Three suspected US drone missile strikes killed 24 militants today in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border, intelligence officials said, the fourth attack in two days.
The United States has widened drone attacks in Pakistan this year, but almost all of them have been in the North Waziristan tribal region, a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Attacks in Khyber are not very frequent.
The Khyber region is home to Lashkar-e-Islami, a militant organisation sometimes allied with the Pakistani Taliban, but which has often clashed with other groups.
The attacks today in Tirah valley occurred within hours of each other. "We have initial reports of some 24 suspected militants killed in three attacks today," one intelligence official in the region said.
Another intelligence official confirmed the figure, saying four suspected militants were killed in the third attack. It could not be immediately verified from independent sources if all the dead were militants, who often dismiss official death toll in such attacks.
A similar strike the day before killed seven suspected militants in the same region.
Pilotless US drones have been attacking al-Qaeda and Taliban militants for the past few years in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border, but there have been a surge in these strikes this year.
Reuters