Two suspected US drones fired missiles at militant hideouts
in northwest Pakistan on today killing at least seven fighters, Pakistani
intelligence officials said.
The attacks took place in the same area where the Pakistani
army has been mounting an air-and-ground operation against Pakistani Taliban
insurgents who are fighting against the government in order to set up a sharia
state in Pakistan.
Areas along Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan are
home to a range of domestic and foreign militants and the authorities have been
under pressure to do more to eliminate the insurgents who cross into Afghanistan
and stage attacks there. Pakistani
Taliban are based on both sides of the border.
Intelligence official said both of the latest air strikes
took place in Pakistan's remote North Waziristan region targeting Uzbek and
Punjabi Taliban hideouts.
Pakistan has stepped up operations against the Taliban in
response to a Dec. 16 school massacre in which more than 130 children were
killed, but details of its efforts are still extremely sketchy.
US drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan and the
government is officially against them, even though many senior Pakistani
Taliban commanders have been killed in such attacks in past years. US officials
almost never publicly comment on its drone policy in Pakistan.
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