|
A US drone strike killed six suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan, security officials said yesterday, as Al Qaeda said two members of the group had been killed in a previous strike. |
Two missiles struck a house in Mada Khel village of the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Thursday night, said a security official based in the area.
Six people were killed and three wounded, he said, citing intercepts of Taliban conversations.
Local and foreign militants were among the casualties, he added. Another government official based in nearby Datta Khel town confirmed the death toll.
The military says it has killed around 1,200 militants since beginning the operation in North Waziristan. Most of the civilian population - around 1mn people - were ordered to leave their homes before the offensive began. Access to the area is tightly controlled.
Also on Thursday, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) spokesman Usama Mahmoud said two Al Qaeda men were killed in a drone strike last week.
Mahmoud identified the two on Twitter on Thursday as Dr Sarbaland, also called Abu Khalid, and Sheikh Adil Abdul Qadus, a former Pakistani army major who owned the home where top Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested.
Sarbaland’s two young sons were also killed, Mahmoud said, according to a translation of the message provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi communications.
Both men were Pakistani nationals who belonged to AQIS, a new franchise of the militant group announced in September.
Sarbaland used to treat wounded Taliban militants. He was in a house near the Afghan border when it was hit by a drone on November 11, they said.
The men inside tried to flee, along with Sarbaland’s two sons, aged 12 and 13, but a second missile hit the truck they were travelling in, the militants said.
