US drones kill three Haqqani militants in Pakistan

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A US drone strike killed at least three militants in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, destroying a compound in a mountain stronghold of the Afghan Taliban's Haqqani network, officials said.

The attack took place in Darpakhel Sarai, just outside Miranshah the main town of North Waziristan, the most notorious bastion of Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Covert CIA drones are the chief US weapon against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who use Pakistani soil as launch pads for attacking US troops in the 10-year war in neighbouring Afghanistan and plotting attacks on the West.

"A drone fired two missiles on a militant compound. At least three militants were killed," a senior Pakistani security officials told AFP.

He said those killed were loyal to Jamil Haqqani, an important Afghan commander in the Haqqani network whom US officials said was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan on October 13.

A US official at the time named him as Janbaz Zadran, saying he "played a central role in helping the Haqqani network attack US and coalition targets in Kabul and southeastern Afghanistan".

Other intelligence officials in Miranshah and the northwestern city of Peshawar confirmed Thursday's missile strike and casualties.

Three other wounded militants were pulled out of the rubble and taken to hospital, witnesses said. One of them was carried out on a cot by seven to eight militants enveloped in dust.

Militants cordoned off the area and were preventing anyone from accessing the destroyed compound, they said.

A local intelligence official said about 10 militants had been inside the compound but that some had managed to escape.

The latest attack is the 61st US drone strike reported in Pakistan so far this year -- a programme that American officials refuse to discuss publicly and which has been dramatically ramped up under President Barack Obama.

American lawmakers are running out of patience with Pakistan, demanding that Islamabad cut all long-standing ties with Islamist militants, after Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden close to the Pakistani capital on May 2.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States deteriorated after that, and again over accusations that Pakistani intelligence helped the Haqqani network in a September 13 siege of the US embassy in Kabul.

Two US senators just back from talks in Afghanistan and Pakistan said Wednesday that the coming weeks will show whether Islamabad can be a reliable ally against Islamist extremists.

"It does feel, at times, like Pakistan is playing both the role of fireman and arsonist in Afghanistan," said Democratic Senator Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"The next few weeks will demonstrate or not whether we can work together effectively with the government of Pakistan" against foes like the Haqqani network blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, said Democratic Senator Jack Reed.