2 die in US drone strike in Pakistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, June 14, IRNA -- A US spy aircraft Thursday fired missiles on a residential apartment in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region and killed at least two people, sources in the region said.
It was the second US drone strike in the same region in 12 hours.
At least four people were killed in an attack Wednesday evening.
Sources in Miranshah, center of North Waziristan said, that a US spy aircraft fired two missiles on an apartment at 3:30 a.m., killing at least two people at the scene.
The building was completely destroyed and the strike also caused damage to a hotel and several other buildings on the ground.
There was no information as to who were targetted in the Thursday's pre-dawn strike.
Sources said that Taliban militants arrived at the scene shortly after the strike to shift bodies of those killed.
The attack was the 10th in Pakistan's tribal region since a NATO conference on Afghanistan in Chicago last month.
On June 4, at least 15 people were killed when a US drone fired four missiles on a compound in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.
A day earlier, at least five insurgents, including a commander, were killed near Wana – the main town in South Waziristan.
Pakistan strongly condemns US drone strikes in its tribal regions and summoned US envoy over the previous strike which Islamabad terms as 'illegal and violation of the country’s sovereignty.'
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday told a visiting US Congressional delegation that the American drone attacks in the country are counterproductive and undermine the cooperative equation of the two countries.
But the US has rejected Pakistan's calls for halt to the strike, saying the campaign is effective in targetting the 'militants.'
Tribesmen say that mostly civilians are killed in US attacks.
According to statistics, the US has carried out 22 drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions this year, killing nearly 159 people.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 80183762
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