Lethal US drone raid in Pakistan

At least 12 people are reported killed in two US missile strikes in North Waziristan.

MAP: Mir Ali - town considered a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

“Three missiles were fired in the second strike which killed four rebels,” he said.

Another Pakistani intelligence official confirmed the strikes and casualties. The official said it was not immediately clear whether any “high value target” was present in the area at the time of the attack.

Regular target

US drone attacks routinely target Taliban commanders in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt, which Washington calls the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda.

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A US drone strike in Miranshah in February killed Mohammed Haqqani, a brother of Al-Qaeda-linked Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose network is fighting against US and local forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The covert US drone war against Taliban leaders has focused increasingly on North Waziristan, a bastion of multiple armed groups, since a December 30 suicide attack killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan.

North Waziristan borders Khost province, where a Jordanian doctor turned al-Qaeda double agent blew himself up in the deadliest attack on the US spy agency in 26 years.

Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked groups are blamed for a wave of suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan that have killed more than 3,000 people since 2007.

The most recent attack claimed by Pakistan’s Taliban faction was a suicide car bombing in Lahore on Monday that killed 15 people and destroyed offices used to interrogate suspected insurgents.

Source: News Agencies