US strike kills 10 militants in Pakistan
Saturday, 26 September 2009
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 25 (AFP): A US drone attack in Pakistan's tribal belt killed 10 militants from an Al-Qaeda-linked network that is fighting Western troops in Afghanistan, officials said Friday.
The strike by a suspected US spy plane was the fourth this month in North Waziristan, where militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda who are fighting against 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are said to be hiding.
"We believe that all the 10 men killed in the strike were Afghans as the compound belonged to the Haqqani network," a senior security official in the area told newsmen.
But the individual identities of the dead and whether there were any high value targets were not immediately clear.
"We are collecting information about the identity of all those killed in the attack," the official said. At least five militants were wounded, he added.
The Haqqani network is a powerful Afghan group based in northwest Pakistan closely linked to Al-Qaeda and known for its sophisticated attacks targeting the Afghan government and foreign troops in Afghanistan.
The strike by a suspected US spy plane was the fourth this month in North Waziristan, where militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda who are fighting against 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are said to be hiding.
"We believe that all the 10 men killed in the strike were Afghans as the compound belonged to the Haqqani network," a senior security official in the area told newsmen.
But the individual identities of the dead and whether there were any high value targets were not immediately clear.
"We are collecting information about the identity of all those killed in the attack," the official said. At least five militants were wounded, he added.
The Haqqani network is a powerful Afghan group based in northwest Pakistan closely linked to Al-Qaeda and known for its sophisticated attacks targeting the Afghan government and foreign troops in Afghanistan.