WANA – Missile strikes by a suspected US drone aircraft have killed at least 17 militants in Pakistan’s South Waziristan, intelligence officials said, following reports that a top al-Qaeda operative was killed in the region last week.
Yesterday’s drone attack near the Afghan border, the biggest since March, may signal that the CIA identified high-value al-Qaeda or Taliban targets in South Waziristan.
A Pakistani security official said he believed the drone strikes had escalated in South Waziristan because speculation that the Pakistani army planned to mount an offensive in North Waziristan prompted militants to head south. – (Reuters)