US drone attack in Pakistan kills several militants
December 20, 2014
Pakistani security officials said on Saturday that a drone strike launched by the US military had killed at least five Islamist militants in the country's restive tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
"A US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Mada Khail neighbourhood of Datta Khail area in North Waziristan killing five militants. The death toll is expected to rise," the AFP news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.
The official's statement was confirmed by at least one further security source speaking to other wire services.
The dead militants were not immediately identified but the DPA news agency quoted one military official who said a "high-value" target was among those killed.
Another official told the Associated Press that those killed were fighters under the local Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.
Pakistan's army launched a major offensive against militants in the region back in June and this week's attack on the school in Peshawar, which killed at least 148 people, including 135 children, appears to have further strengthened their resolve.
Even as the Peshawar attack was continuing to unfold on Tuesday, Pakistan's army chief, General Raheel Sharif said the event had renewed the force's determination to achieve the militants "final elimination."
pfd/lw (AFP, AP, dpa)