14 Taliban killed in drone attack in North Waziristan

* Intelligence official says not clear if any high value target was hit

PESHAWAR/MIRANSHAH: At least 14 suspected Taliban were reportedly killed in a suspected US drone attack in North Waziristran on Wednesday night.

Sources based in Miranshah said that in the first attack, a US drone fired four missile on a vehicle in Macha Madakhel at Dada Khel tehsil, killing six terrorists. Another vehicle that was en route to help the victims also came under the attack of a US drone. Resultantly, eight more Taliban were killed. Law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and started investigations, APP reported

Not sure: An intelligence official confirmed the strikes and casualties. He said it was not immediately clear whether any high value target was present in the area, said to be the stronghold of local militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

US drone attacks routinely target Taliban and al Qaeda commanders in the country’s tribal belt.

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

More recently, three missiles fired by US drone aircraft killed five militants in Miranshah on Monday.

The covert US drone war against al Qaeda and Taliban leaders has focused increasingly on North Waziristan, a bastion of multiple militant groups, since a December 30 suicide attack killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan, AFP reported. haji mujtaba/app

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