US drone strike kills six near Miranshah

PESHAWAR/MIRANSHAH - At least six suspected militants were reported killed in a US drone attack on a suspected militant compound on Saturday in the restive northwestern tribal belt of Miranshah.

The News and the Daily Times quoted security officials, as saying that the target of the attack was a house used by militants in Mohammad Khel village, about 25 kilometers west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

“Two US drones fired four missiles, we have reports that six militants have been killed,” a senior security official in Peshawar told media by telephone.

Two intelligence officials in Miranshah also confirmed the attack and the death toll.

The house was owned by Khiyali Jan, a local tribesman, who had rented it out to a militant group attached with Taliban-linked Afghan warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

Bahadur is said to control up to 2,000 fighters who attack US-led forces over the border in Afghanistan, officials said.

It was yet not clear whether any high value target was hit, Pakistani security officials said, adding that the area was being surrounded by militants after the strike. (ANI)