Friday 09 March ,
(BNA) MIRANSHAH: A US drone killed at least eight militants Friday when it fired two missiles on a vehicle in Pakistan's tribal badlands near the Afghan border, security officials said.
The attack took place in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, part of the tribal belt that Washington considers a global hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
"A drone fired two missiles on a vehicle. At least eight militants were killed," a senior security official told AFP. "It is not immediately clear if
some important target was hit in the missile strike."
Another security official based in Peshawar and an intelligence official based in South Waziristan confirmed the attack and death toll.
The area is a stronghold of militants belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella militant group led by warlord Hakimullah Mehsud.
US officials say Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, and Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.
But the missile attacks fuel widespread anti-American resentment in Pakistan, which has been running especially high since US air strikes inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November
