ISLAMABAD: US missiles slammed into three compounds close to the Afghan border yesterday, killing 18 suspected militants, Pakistani officials said, just a day after the government summoned an American diplomat to protest drone strikes in the countryÂ’s northwest tribal region.The suspected militant hideouts were hit minutes apart. They were located several kilometers from each other in the North Waziristan tribal area, said intelligence officials.
The US has carried out seven drone strikes in the past week in North Waziristan, ignoring Pakistani protests that they violate the countryÂ’s sovereignty.
| The Paks will neither corral the hard boyz themselves nor persuade the mighty Pak air force to shoot down the drones. Of course we're ignoring them... |
There has been a string of drone strikes over the past week. On Saturday, five allies of a powerful warlord, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, whose forces often strike US troops in Afghanistan, died when a US drone struck their hideout. On Sunday, American drones fired a flurry of missiles into the Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing 10 suspected militants in two separate strikes. On Tuesday, missiles targeting a vehicle killed five more suspected militants.