May 11: The US drones on Tuesday fired a barrage of 12 missiles in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas killing 14 militants. The strikes also destroyed a training camp of the extremists in North Waziristan, officials said. It was the second strike in the same mountainous area close to the Afghan border since Sunday, when the United States accused the Pakistani Taliban of being behind a plot to detonate a car bomb in Times Square 10 days ago.
The training camp was run by militants attached to Taliban-linked Afghan warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters who attack US-led forces over the border in Afghanistan. The compound was in the Lowara Mandi area of North Waziristan district, seen as a fortress of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan’s tribal badlands.
“According to the latest reports we have, a total of 14 militants were killed. They targeted a compound and vehicles parked outside the house,” a security official said.
More than 900 people have been killed in nearly 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008. The bombing raids fuel anti-American sentiment in Muslim Pakistan and draw public condemnation from the government.
Meanwhile, in Orakzai Agency, Pakistani forces shelled militant hideouts with gunship helicopters, killing seven miscreants and injuring three others, officials said. According to the officials, security forces targeted Mushti Mela, Koat and Tagha Sam areas of lower Orakzai Agency. Security has been beefed up in various areas of Orakzai Agency.