US drone strike kills five in Pakistan’s northwest tribal area

Islamabad: At least five people were killed and three others injured in a US drone strike in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Thursday night, media reported.

The US pilot-less aircraft fired two missiles at the headquarters of Haqqani network, located in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal area along Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Xinhua reported citing Abb Takk News.

The center was leveled to ground following the attack and the residents pulled the bodies of the killed people from the debris.

Media reports said that all the five deceased belonged to the Haqqani network who were targeted during a meeting.

The drones kept on hovering over the area before and after the strike, causing panic among local residents.

The attack on the Haqqani network headquarters came a week after Afghan Taliban sources told media that the chief of the Haqqani network Jalaluddin Haqqani died of illness a year ago.

The latest strike is 11th of its kind in tribal areas of Pakistan since the beginning of this year.

So far this year more than 68 people have been killed and many others injured in such strikes in the country.

(IANS)