Islamabad, Jun 6: US drones targeted a madrassa and a house in South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan today, killing at least 14 suspected militants, security sources said.
The drones fired four missiles at the seminary and house near Wana, one of the main towns of South Waziristan Agency, early this morning.
Sources said five foreign militants were among the dead.A journalist in Wana said the other slain militants were from Punjab province and locals.
Local sources said the unmanned spy planes targeted the compound of senior Taliban commander Malang in Shalam Dana area, 17 km from Wana.
Malang belongs to the Mullah Nazir faction of the Taliban, which controls Wana and nearby areas. This was the second drone strike in South Waziristan in four days.
On Friday night, a US drone strike killed al Qaeda-linked terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri and eight other militants. Kashmiri was wanted by the US, India and Pakistan for several terror attacks.
Kashmiri was linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks and last month's brazen attack on a naval airbase in Karachi that killed 10 security personnel.
According to an estimate, today's drone strike was the 34th one this year. Nearly 250 people, most of them suspected militants, have been killed in these strikes. The US has stepped up strikes in Waziristan after the US and Pakistan created a joint intelligence mechanism to track key terrorists in the wake of a visit to Islamabad by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late last month. Clinton had asked Pakistan to take “decisive steps” against the militants.
The US also handed over a list of five top terroristsn that it wanted killed or captured, including Kashmiri, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar. PTI
