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22 April 2009
At least three people have been killed after a
suspected US missile attack in Pakistan's South
Waziristan region, security officials have said.
The identities of the casualties were not clear, but
security officials said that the target was a training
camp for pro-Taliban fighters near the village of Zari
Noor.
"It was a training camp. At the moment, we're
trying to get information from the site," a security
official in the region, who declined to be identified,
told the Reuters news agency on Sunday.
The missile attack followed a suicide car bombing on a
Pakistani military convoy in the northwest of the
country, which killed 27 soldiers and two civilians,
on Saturday.
Shahab Ali Shah, the senior administrative official
from South Waziristan tribal region, said five people
had been injured on Sunday.
"It was a drone attack," he said.
Haji Gul Zaman, who lives outside Zari Noor, said he
heard two blasts and saw plumes of smoke rising from
the area.
Lorries carrying pro-Taliban fighters raced towards
the scene, he said.
Residents said the attack flattened the compound,
while a vehicle parked nearby was also destroyed.
Drone warning
Hakimullah Mehsud, a pro-Taliban commander, vowed
earlier this month to carry out two suicide attacks a
week until the drone attacks stop and Pakistani troops
withdraw from the region along the border with
Afghanistan.
Saturday's attack on the military convoy was claimed
by Hakimullah Mehsud in a telephone call to The
Associated Press news agency.
"We are meeting our pledge ... We will intensify
our attacks if the drone strikes in the tribal areas
do not stop," he said.
About 350 people are thought to have died in an
estimated 35 suspected US drone attacks, according to
reports from Pakistani officials and witnesses.
The US does not confirm the drone attacks, but its
forces in neighbouring Afghanistan and the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) are known to use the
unmanned aircraft.
Pakistan has repeatedly voiced its objections to the
attacks, saying they violate the country's sovereignty
and fuel anti-government sentiment. |
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