Three killed in US drone strike near Pak-Afghan border
Drone strike took place close to the border with Afghanistan, says official
September 15, 2017
PARACHINAR: A suspected US drone strike on Friday killed three and injured two in Kurram Agency of the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), according to a political agent.
Kurram Agency Political Agent Baseer Khan Wazir told Geo.tv that the drone strike took place in Pakistani territory, six kilometres from the Afghan border.
"Two missiles were dropped on the house of Maulvi Mohib and three people have been killed," Wazir said.
Officials said the strike took place in remote Ghuz Ghari village in Kurram agency, close to the Afghan border where at least five fighters from the Afghan Taliban had gathered.
In March, two people were killed in Lower Kurram Agency in what was said to be the first drone strike under US President Donald Trump's administration.
The use of US drones has dwindled dramatically in recent years in Pakistan, where the strikes have proven extremely controversial with the public and rights groups over human rights and sovereignty concerns.
The US is believed to have ordered at least two other drone attacks this year.
The first US strike under the Trump administration killed two men riding a motorbike in Kurram in March, while the second suspected attack happened in late April in North Waziristan, one of seven tribal districts stretching along the Afghan border.
In a major speech outlining US policy on Afghanistan last month, Trump lambasted Pakistan for sheltering "agents of chaos" and suggested ties with Islamabad would be adjusted immediately. He offered few details.
Islamabad has repeatedly denied claims of being soft on militancy, accusing the United States of ignoring the thousands who have been killed in Pakistan and the billions spent fighting extremists.
