Pakistan's indigenous drone kills several militants in NW Pakistan

A number of militants were killed when Pakistan-made drone Burraq pounded several hideouts in the country's northwest tribal area of South Waziristan on Thursday night, an army statement said.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in a statement that the Burraq conducted its maiden night-time strike with pinpoint accuracy in the South Waziristan region, a restive area along the porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

This was the second strike by Pakistan's indigenous drone against the suspected militants in tribal areas.

Armed with laser-guided Barq missile, Burraq was tested for the first time on March 14 this year in the northwest Shawal area where it killed three militants.

Pakistani army, who has been battling heavily armed Taliban militants since 2001, has long aspired to have drone technology for targeting the high value targets hiding in the mountainous terrain of the tribal areas.

The country also demanded the drone technology from the U.S., who had been running a controversial drone programme to attack its targets with in Pakistani territory along Afghanistan border since 2004.

Citing the drone strikes as violation of its territorial sovereignty, Pakistan demanded the technology from the U.S. to target the militants hiding in the country by itself.

After an apparent refusal from the U.S., Pakistan started its efforts to develop the drone technology on their own in 2009.

Thursday night's strike was the military's second attack on the militants on the same day.

Earlier in the wee hours of morning, 21 militants were killed when the army jet fighters pounded four militants' hideouts in the neighboring Khyber Agency. Endit