Militant commander among 50 killed in missile attacks
TANK/WANA: At least 50 people, including an important militant commander, were killed in a series of suspected US missile strikes in South Waziristan on Tuesday.
(According to Reuters, 45 militants were killed in two air strikes.)
Security officials said the drones fired missiles when Sangeen, an Afghan commander of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, was holding a meeting soon after the funeral of an associate of Baitullah Mehsud in Lataka area.
They said that apparently the drones remained in the air after the first strike as it also targeted some vehicles in which the militants were fleeing.
The commander, along with other militants, had attended the funeral of Khog Wali, who was earlier killed in another drone attack, along with five others, in Bekh Mary Langara area.
There were unconfirmed reports about the presence of Baitullah Mehsud in Lataka when drones fired three missiles at the funeral procession.
Militants and tribesmen fired on drones flying over the area.
Local people could not reach the scene to retrieve bodies and the injured. Militants kept warning people not to go near the place. Local people said that three missiles were fired by the drone.
Sources said that five injured people were taken to a hospital in Razmak, North Waziristan.
Earlier, an unmanned plane fired missiles at a bunker in Bekh Mary Langara, a predominately Mehsud area.
The missile attack left six militants, including commander Wali, dead while seven others injured. According to some reports, Pakistan Air Force jets also bombed suspected locations in Karama area.
Source: Dawn
Date:6/24/2009
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