Pair of US drone strikes kill 6 in Pakistan

Pair of US drone strikes kill 6 in Pakistan
By RASOOL DAWAR
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 23, 2011; 4:40 AM

MIR ALI, Pakistan -- A pair of suspected U.S. drone strikes killed six alleged militants in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border Sunday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The attacks came as more than 2,000 tribesmen, many of them students, held a protest in one of North Waziristan's largest towns demanding an end to the drone strikes, saying they killed innocent civilians.

Militants have effective control over North Waziristan, and it was unclear if they played a role in organizing the protest. The U.S. refuses to acknowledge the covert CIA drone strikes publicly, but officials insist privately that the attacks are precise and mainly kill Taliban and al-Qaida militants. However, there have been credible accounts of civilian casualties.

In the first drone attack, the aircraft fired two missiles at a vehicle and a house in Doga Mada Khel village, killing four suspected militants, said intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Hours later, a drone fired two missiles at a pair of suspected foreign militants riding a motorcycle in the same village, killing them, said the officials.



unhappycamper comment: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/12/01/not-worth-it-every-hellfire-missile-fired-in-afghanistan-costs-usd58-000.html :(