At least five militants, including Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, were killed when a US drone targeted a compound in Dande Darpakhel area of the restive North Waziristan tribal agency, intelligence sources said on Friday.
Sources told that the compound was completely destroyed as an important meeting of the Pakistani Taliban was ongoing when two missiles hit the compound.
Another key Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Abdullah and Tariq Mehsud, a personal guard of the TTP chief were also killed in the attack, multiple sources confirmed.
Dande Darpakhel area is located five kilometres (three miles) north of Miramshah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region, said to be a stronghold for the Pakistani Taliban.
The strike came a day after three insurgents were killed in another drone attack that also targeted a rebel compound near Miramshah. The US unmanned plane was still flying in the area after the attack.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said they were getting reports of the drone strike in North Waziristan agency. Condemning the strikes, he said these were aimed to sabotage efforts for establishing peace in the country.
“A delegation was about to be sent to talk to Taliban tomorrow (Saturday),” said the minister hinting that a "senior militant commander" may have been killed in today’s strike.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid earlier today said they have had “no contact” with the government, a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said a process to initiate peace talks had been started.
The incident comes a week after Sharif urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes during a meeting in
Sources told that the compound was completely destroyed as an important meeting of the Pakistani Taliban was ongoing when two missiles hit the compound.
Another key Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Abdullah and Tariq Mehsud, a personal guard of the TTP chief were also killed in the attack, multiple sources confirmed.
The strike came a day after three insurgents were killed in another drone attack that also targeted a rebel compound near Miramshah. The US unmanned plane was still flying in the area after the attack.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said they were getting reports of the drone strike in North Waziristan agency. Condemning the strikes, he said these were aimed to sabotage efforts for establishing peace in the country.
“A delegation was about to be sent to talk to Taliban tomorrow (Saturday),” said the minister hinting that a "senior militant commander" may have been killed in today’s strike.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid earlier today said they have had “no contact” with the government, a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said a process to initiate peace talks had been started.
The incident comes a week after Sharif urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes during a meeting in
0 comments:
Post a Comment