US drones kill four in North Waziristan

PESHAWAR: US drones targeted a compound and a vehicle in Danday Darpa Khel in North Waziristan early Wednesday morning.

Sources add, as many as four people were killed in the strike in the suburbs of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

The Pakistan Army has also conducted air strikes in North Waziristan during the ongoing operation 'Zarb-e-Azb' against local and foreign militants in the area.

AFP adds:

At least five militants were killed in two separate US drone strikes early Wednesday in a northwest tribal district where Pakistan has this week launched a major military offensive.

Local security officials said six missiles hit three compounds in Dargah Mandi village in North Waziristan, around 10 kilometres (six miles) west of the main town of Miranshah in an area considered a stronghold for the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

"US drones fired six missiles which hit three separate compounds in two villages, at least five militants have been killed," a local security official in Miranshah told AFP.

The identities of those killed in the strikes were yet not clear, the official said.The attacks took place just minutes apart. Two drones fired four missiles in the first strike, then a third drone fired a further two missiles in the second attack, the official said.

Another senior security official confirmed the strike and told AFP that a vehicle parked in one compound was also hit, adding the death toll could rise.