1st LD Writethru: 5 killed in U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan
Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:
At least five militants were killed and several others injured when U.S. pilotless aircraft launched missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Saturday, local media reported.
The militants killed included a top commander of outlawed organization Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and his four accomplices, the Urdu TV channel Express reported.
It is the first drone strike in Pakistan since the beginning of this year, during which the U.S. unmanned aircraft pounded a hideout of suspected militants in snow-covered Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Drone strikes in Pakistan fell to their lowest level for eight years in 2015, according to a research by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
It said that the year 2015 witnessed a sharp reduction not only in attacks but also in the number of people reported killed.
The drones hit the country's tribal areas 13 times last year, killing between 60 and 85 people which is almost half the 25 strikes in 2014 and 10 times fewer than the campaign's peak of 128 in 2010. Enditem