PESHAWAR:
After a gap of almost six months, the US drone strikes resumed in
Miranshah of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on Wednesday, the latest
attack killing six suspected militants. It was the first strike by the
CIA-operated spy planes after December 25, 2013 in the North Waziristan
tribal region.
In the second strike, six missiles were fired on Danday Darpakhel area of Miramshah. There were no reports of casualties till the filing of this report. Official and local tribal sources said the first drone fired two missiles and hit a mini-truck in Tabi Tolkhel village, eight kilometres northwest of Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.
“According to intercepts of the militants, six people were killed and some others injured in the drone strike on the mini-truck in Tabi village on the Miranshah-Ghulam Khan Road,” a local administration official said.
Pleading anonymity, he said a large number of armed people reached the spot after the drone disappeared.The militants reportedly retrieved the bodies of the slain men and shifted them to an unknown location.
Official sources in Miranshah said that four among the six killed in the drone attack were Uzbek militants and two were members of the so-called Punjabi Taliban.
On December 25, 2013, the drone had fired four missiles and struck a mud-house in the Qutabkhel village, located two kilometres east of Miranshah, and killed four people, two of them reportedly Arab, one Punjabi and another a local tribal militant.
Tribesman in the area saiddrone strikes in Pakistan after the Pakistan government started peace negotiations with the local Taliban in late January 2014.However, now when the talks have almost fizzled out after the recent devastating Taliban attack on the airport in Karachi, the government is reportedly preparing to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.
Abdullah Bahar Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander and spokesman for commander Shehryar Mehsud group that claims to represent the faction of Hakimullah Mehsud and having links with Uzbek militants, told this correspondent on phone that the Karachi airport assault was a joint work of the Pakistani Taliban and Uzbek militants.
“It was our joint operation in which our Uzbek brothers played an important role. I can’t tell you about the nature of support they provided us but in operations like the Karachi airport, one group provides fighters while another arranges finances for weapons and explosives,” he said.
Abdullah Bahar said they were working with their Uzbek brothers and there would be more devastating attacks in the near future. “The government will forget the Karachi attack after we carry out other attacks on them,” he threatened.
In the second strike, six missiles were fired on Danday Darpakhel area of Miramshah. There were no reports of casualties till the filing of this report. Official and local tribal sources said the first drone fired two missiles and hit a mini-truck in Tabi Tolkhel village, eight kilometres northwest of Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.
“According to intercepts of the militants, six people were killed and some others injured in the drone strike on the mini-truck in Tabi village on the Miranshah-Ghulam Khan Road,” a local administration official said.
Pleading anonymity, he said a large number of armed people reached the spot after the drone disappeared.The militants reportedly retrieved the bodies of the slain men and shifted them to an unknown location.
Official sources in Miranshah said that four among the six killed in the drone attack were Uzbek militants and two were members of the so-called Punjabi Taliban.
On December 25, 2013, the drone had fired four missiles and struck a mud-house in the Qutabkhel village, located two kilometres east of Miranshah, and killed four people, two of them reportedly Arab, one Punjabi and another a local tribal militant.
Tribesman in the area saiddrone strikes in Pakistan after the Pakistan government started peace negotiations with the local Taliban in late January 2014.However, now when the talks have almost fizzled out after the recent devastating Taliban attack on the airport in Karachi, the government is reportedly preparing to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.
Abdullah Bahar Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander and spokesman for commander Shehryar Mehsud group that claims to represent the faction of Hakimullah Mehsud and having links with Uzbek militants, told this correspondent on phone that the Karachi airport assault was a joint work of the Pakistani Taliban and Uzbek militants.
“It was our joint operation in which our Uzbek brothers played an important role. I can’t tell you about the nature of support they provided us but in operations like the Karachi airport, one group provides fighters while another arranges finances for weapons and explosives,” he said.
Abdullah Bahar said they were working with their Uzbek brothers and there would be more devastating attacks in the near future. “The government will forget the Karachi attack after we carry out other attacks on them,” he threatened.
No comments:
Post a Comment