US missile strikes kill 12 in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Two US missile strikes on Wednesday killed at least 12 militants in Pakistan’s tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

The first strike took place at 8:00 pm (1500 GMT) in Mizar Madakhel village, some 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, followed swiftly by a second attack.

Eight militants were killed when the drone fired four missiles, hitting a vehicle and a compound which were being used by the insurgents, a senior security official in the area said.

He added that the second strike, which killed another four, took place after a brief interval. It targeted two vehicles which militants were using to pull out bodies from the site of the first attack.

“Three missiles were fired in the second strike which killed four rebels,” he said.

Another Pakistani intelligence official confirmed the strikes and casualties. He said it was not immediately clear whether any “high value target” was present in the area, said to be the stronghold of local militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

US drone attacks routinely target Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt, which Washington calls the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda.

Miranshah, AFP