US drone kills four in Miranshah

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A suspected US drone fired missiles at a house in northwest Pakistan before dawn on Tuesday, killing four militants in the country’s main sanctuary for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters near the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The house was located in a bazaar in Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Initial reports indicate two foreigners were among the dead, but their precise nationalities were not known, said the officials. The attack also injured two suspected militants, they said. The US has repeatedly demanded that Pakistan launch an offensive in North Waziristan since militants use the area to stage cross-border attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan has refused, saying its troops are stretched too thin by operations in other parts of the semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border. But analysts believe Pakistan is reluctant to target Afghan Taliban militants with whom it has historical ties and could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign troops withdraw. As a result, the Obama administration has dramatically increased the number of drone attacks in the tribal region, especially in North Waziristan. ap

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