Officials said on Sunday that the drone that struck northwest Pakistan targeting Taliban rebel hideouts had resulted to the deaths of at least 23 militants and seven civilians. The casualties were resulted by a US drone strike, a gunfight and assaults by Pakistani jets at a security militaries checkpoint and a camp blasting for displaced people.
A military statement stated that the air force executed overnight assaults on five hideouts in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan tribal district. The 23 militants and 7 civilian casualties have been killed in a drone strike in northwest Pakistan; the attacks were on rebel hideouts, a checkpoint and a motorcycle bombing.
The statement also said that in accurate Pakistan inflight strikes, five terrorists' hideouts were shattered and 15 terrorists including foreigners were killed in Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency. Security officials disclosed that the US drone strikes on Sunday left at least two militants casualties in Karezai Pal village in nearby South Waziristan tribal district.
On a condition of anonymity, a senior security official told AFP that the identities were unknown but preliminary evidence showed that they were not locals. A militant source who communicated with the AFP from an unidentified location also confirmed the drone strike in Pakistan and casualties.
On the other hand, in a statement issued by foreign ministry late Sunday, Pakistan government condemned the drone strike. Pakistan consistently dissents against US drone strikes, which have been aiming militants in the tribal areas since 2004. Pakistan administration believed that US encroach upon its sovereignty and are counterproductive in the battle against terror.
Aside from the Pakistan drone strike that killed civilian casualties, in another incident early Sunday in the northwest, six militants were killed in a shootout that exploded after they assaulted a terrorist checkpoint in the Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan. The Khyber district is an access for NATO supplies to Afghanistan.
Still on Sunday, police said that an explosive was planted in a motorcycle killed at least seven civilians and left 10 casualties in the northwestern town of Hangu, Pakistan. The blasting took place at a camp for people displaced by unrest in the Orakzai and Khyber tribal districts. Nonentity instantaneously claimed accountability but the area has a history of militant and sectarian ferocity.
Since June, Pakistan's military has been struggling to abolish Taliban bases and other militants in the tribal areas. As said by the military, over 1,000 militants and 86 soldiers have been killed so far. The area is proscribed to journalists, making it difficult to confirm the statistics.
In Pakistan, drone strikes are tremendously ostracized. Human rights advocates have condemned the drone strikes, claiming that they have stemmed in a great number of civilian casualties. The activists and the Pakistani government do not approve on the toll.
In the recent months, the amount of drone strikes has declined but American officials have sacked the impression that the categorized drone program concentrating on the unstable northwestern Pakistani tribal regions will be halted. As for the latest mission, 7 civilian casualties have been archived.
American officers accentuate that tenuously conducted drones are a necessary armament in the quest for militants in areas where field troops cannot function. In line with the recent US drone strikes in Pakistan that left 23 militants and 7 civilian casualties, the hunt is generally for Haqqani network members, who have arranged lethal attacks against forces in Afghanistan.
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