Drone attack comes days after Obama speech on controversial assaults
• Slain Taliban commander was carrying a $5 million bounty on his head
• He was allegedly involved in attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A missile shot from an American pilotless aircraft Wednesday killed the deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban in one of the most significant strikes for the controversial programme in months that came just days after US President Barack Obama announced plans of reducing drone attacks in the strife-torn nation.
The drone attack, which is the first since the May 11 polls that saw the election of a new civilian government, also killed six others and injured four in volatile North Waziristan tribal region, Pakistani security officials said.
Pakistani security officials said the drone fired two missiles that struck a mud-built house at Chashma village, three kilometers east of Miranshah, the administrative town of Waziristan.
"Local tribesmen after an hour of the attack started rescue work and recovered bodies of seven people. The bodies of slain people were badly damaged and were beyond recognition," said a local tribesman, Bashir Dawar.
He said the two injured were taken to a hospital in Miranshah.
A senior security official in Miranshah, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the identity of the dead was unclear and that militants and their supporters arrived there to supervise the rescue work.
No comments:
Post a Comment