US drone strikes kill eight suspected militants in South Waziristan

ISLAMABAD - At least eight people were reportedly killed in a US drone strike in the restive tribal region of South Waziristan on Tuesday.

According to reports, unmanned US Predator aircraft fired two missiles at a house, supposedly a militants hideout, in Karikot village, situated seven kilometres from Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.

The house and a vehicle parked nearby was destroyed in the attack on the region which is said to be controlled by Taliban leader Mullah Nazir.

Local residents said that the Taliban surrounded the rubble soon after the attack and took the bodies in their possession, Xinhua reported.

Over 900 people have been killed in nearly 200 missile attacks in the troubled northwest tribal areas of Pakistan since 2008.

Earlier this month a report by a top UN official had criticised 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)