Drones kill at least 17 in Pakistan

There have been at least 116 missile strikes in Pakistan this year, according to a website that tracks the attacks [AFP]

A series of suspected US missile strikes have killed at least 17 people in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal district, obliterating compounds and vehicles used by fighters.

Pakistani security officials said on Tuesday that the first strike destroyed two compounds and killed five suspected fighters in Ghulam Khan village, 20km east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

They said two further strikes carried out by unmanned aircraft killed 10 suspected fighters minutes apart in Nawab village on the border with Afghanistan.

The second strike happened as people were retrieving the bodies of those killed in the first attack, the officials said.

“At least 10 people were killed when US drones fired missiles at three vehicles,” a senior security official told AFP news agency.

“First a US drone fired missiles hit a double-cabin pick-up truck and about 15 minutes later two more cars were struck,” he said.

Security and intelligence officials in Miranshah and Peshawar confirmed the strikes and the death toll.

There’s been at least 116 such missile attacks this year, according to the Long War Journal, a website that tracks drone strikes.