US drone strike kills four militants in North Waziristan

Pakistani tribesmen hold banners as they march during a protest rally against the US drone attacks, in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan district on January 21, 2011. Hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen paraded in the streets to demand an end to US drone attacks which they said were killing innocent people in the tribal areas, witnesses said. In 2010 the campaign doubled missile attacks in the tribal area with around 100 drone strikes killing more than 650 people, according to an AFP tally. AFP Photo

MIRANSHAH: A US drone attack killed at least four militants in North Waziristan tribal district on Sunday, officials said.

The US drone hit a car immediately after it parked outside a house. Four militants have been killed, an intelligence official in Miranshah told AFP, adding that the vehicle was completely destroyed and the house badly damaged.

Preliminary reports said all of them were local militants but we are trying to get more information, he added.

A second intelligence official said the drone fired two missiles.

The unmanned aircraft launched the missiles in Datta Khel, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of North Waziristans main town of Miranshah and a frequent target of the strikes, officials said.

The area close to the Afghan border is a key battleground in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

An intelligence official in Peshawar confirmed the attack and number of missiles, saying: At least four militants have been killed.

The United States does not confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy them in the region.

A series of strikes on January 1 killed at least 15 people and destroyed ! a Taliba n compound, according to Pakistani officials, followed by at least three more separate drone strikes this month.

The latest attack follows a rally by hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen on Friday against the drone strikes, which they said were killing innocent people including women and children in the tribal areas.

More than 1,000 protesters staged the demonstration in Miranshah, shouting slogans against the United States and CIA.

The US strikes are deeply unpopular among the Pakistani public, who also see military action on Pakistani soil as a breach of national sovereignty.

The covert campaign last year doubled missile attacks in the tribal areas, where more than 100 drone strikes killed over 670 people in 2010 compared with 45 strikes that killed 420 in 2009, according to an AFP tally.

Pakistan tacitly cooperates with the bombing campaign, which US officials say has severely weakened Al-Qaedas leadership.

But it has stalled on launching a ground offensive in North Waziristan, saying its troops are overstretched.

Washington says the strikes have killed a number of high-value targets, including the former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.