ISLAMABAD (AP) — Intelligence officials say two suspected U.S. drone missile strikes have killed at least 12 people in Pakistan’s volatile northwest near the Afghan border.
The officials say a suspected drone fired two missiles at a house in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan in the first attack Wednesday, killing seven people.
The officials say a second strike occurred as locals were retrieving bodies from the rubble of the house, killing five people. The identities of those killed in the attacks were unknown.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at a house in Pakistan’s northwest Wednesday, killing at least seven people in an area teeming with militants suspected in a suicide attack that killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
The al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network is one of several militant groups that stage cross-border attacks against coalition troops from Pakistan’s lawless North Waziristan tribal area. Wednesday’s suspected drone strike is the third such attack in North Waziristan since the CIA bombing a week ago.
The Obama administration has pressed Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani network, but the government has resisted, saying it has its hands full battling other militants that are waging war against the state. In response, Washington has stepped up drone strikes in the country’s militant-dominated tribal area near the Afghan border.
Wednesday’s attack occurred in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The identities of the seven people killed were unknown.
U.S. officials rarely discuss the missile strikes, and although Pakistan’s government publicly condemns them as violations of its sovereignty, many analysts believe the two countries have a secret deal allowing them.