Several Killed in US Drone Strike in Pakistan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - At least six people have been killed in a US drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal area, where a Pakistani military operation against Taliban militants is ongoing.
Two missiles were fired on a compound and a vehicle in the village of Madakhel in the Dattakhel area of the province, intelligence sources told Al Jazeera.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak to the media. .
Thursday’s strike is the fourth US strike in Pakistan since a Pakistani military operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its allies in North Waziristan began last month.
The previous three strikes included twin attacks on June 12, which killed at least 10 people in Miranshah, and another strike on Miranshah on June 18, which killed at least four people.
Speaking to reporters at a closed door briefing on July 1, Pervez Rashid, the Pakistani information minister, said that US drone strikes during the ongoing Pakistani military operation were "counterproductive".
Major-General Asim Bajwa, the chief of the army's PR wing, said that drones "don’t help us".
"This is an operation which is Pakistan’s own operation," he said. "We have conceived it. This is our own capability […] if there is any kind of support that we’ve asked for, it’s [from] Afghans across the border or ISAF.
"Drones are not at all, I repeat not at all, part of our operational plan."
Pakistan’s Foreign Office had issued a routine condemnation of the earlier strikes in June, saying Pakistan "regards such strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The June 12 strikes broke a six-month hiatus in the US drone campaign in Pakistan – the longest such break since US President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
