US drone kills eight militants in Pakistan

July 12, 2011

istan-20110712-1hbrw.html

July 12, 2011 - 3:04PM

AFP

A US drone has fired two missiles at a militant compound in a tribal area of

northwest Pakistan, killing eight militants, security officials say.

The missile strike took place on Tuesday in South Waziristan tribal district's

Bushnarai area close to the border with Afghanistan.

" At least eight militants were killed after a US drone fired two missiles at a

militant compound, " a senior security official told

A local security official and intelligence officials confirmed the attack and

the casualties.

The identities of the militants were not clear immediately clear.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the

most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of al-Qaeda.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have deteriorated sharply since

the May 2 killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison

town, and Islamabad has demanded an end to the drone strikes.

US President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Daley, confirmed in a

television interview on Sunday that the United States had decided to withhold

almost a third of its annual $US2.7 billion ($A2.54 billion) security assistance

to Islamabad.

The bin Laden raid humiliated the Pakistani military and invited allegations of

incompetence and complicity, while Washington has increasingly demanded that

Islamabad take decisive action against terror networks.

The US does not officially confirm Predator drone attacks but its military and

the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the armed,

unmanned aircraft in the region.

The missile strikes are hugely unpopular among a Pakistani public deeply opposed

to the government's alliance with Washington and sensitive to perceived

violations of sovereignty.

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