Six militants killed in US drone attack in North Waziristan

PESHAWAR - A US drone strike killed at least six militants in Pir Kalay area of Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency on Friday.

The drone targeted a vehicle some 10 kilometres east of Miranshah, the headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency, The Nation reported.

Sources in political authorities confirmed the attack and casualties, but the identities of the deceased are yet to be confirmed.

Drone attacks in Pakistan have seen an upsurge in the recent months. However, in a major policy shift, Pakistan is likely to say ‘No’ to the United States over its CIA-operated drone strikes in the North Waziristan Agency, thus bringing an end to the policy of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

According to well-placed sources, Islamabad has decided in principle to convey to Washington that it does not want unabated drone strikes, and would rather like to tackle terrorism-related challenges on its own.

“The US might have achieved tactical gains through the drone strikes, but they too had caused enormous damage to Pakistan’s efforts towards fighting the terrorism”, said military chief spokesperson Major General Ather Abbas.

He was of the view that the Pakistan Army does not support US drone strikes, and has always sought to secure the US drone technology to effectively tackle the challenge without causing any collateral damage. However, these efforts, he said, had not borne any results so far. (ANI)