Six militants killed in US drone attack in North Waziristan

ISLAMABAD - At least six militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike in restive North Waziristan’s Miranshah town, local officials said.

According to reports, an unmanned US Predator drone fired four missiles at two vehicles at Anghara village, situated about four kilometres from Miranshah, killing all the six militants.

After the missile attack, the Taliban barricaded the attack site and shifted the bodies to an undisclosed location, The Daily Times reports.

Local residents said that the missiles hit the vehicles minutes before the scheduled ‘Iftaar’ time, and at least four drones continued to hover over the region for an hour after the attack.

This was the first such attack in the region in nearly a month.

There have been more than 200 strikes, which have killed over 900 people, mostly civilians, in the troubled northwest tribal areas of Pakistan since 2008.

Recently, a report by a top UN official had criticized the Obama administration for continuing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated drone attacks in the semi-autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan, as it has resulted in countless civilian deaths.

UN’s special rapporteur on extra judicial, summary or arbitrary executions Phillip Alston, in his report, argued that drone strikes amount to a “license to kill” without being held accountable, a license the U.S. would not want any other country to have.

While the Obama administration is yet to publicly accept responsibility for the drone hits, the CIA maintains that the attacks carried out by the unmanned aircraft are in fact overseen by the White House and Congress, and refuted reports that the agency lacked accountability. (ANI)