Missiles fired from unmanned US aircraft killed at least four militants in Pakistan today officials said, ending a long pause in the use of a tactic that has become a mainstay of the fight against insurgents.
Drone attacks have been used increasingly in recent years in the fight against insurgents in Pakistan's largely lawless Pashtun tribal areas in the west and northwest who fuel violence across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistani security and intelligence officials said the missiles hit a home on the outskirts of the town of Miranshah in North Waziristan, killing at least four militants.
Insurgents often dispute official versions of such attacks and the death tolls involved.
The strike was the first such attack since November 17th and could deepen anti-US sentiment in Pakistan, which was already running high after a November 26th cross-border Nato air attack that inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
That incident triggered a deep chill in already troubled US-Pakistan relations, prompting Pakistan to close off Nato supply routes into Afghanistan.
A source in Washington confirmed that a US-operated drone had been fired at a militant target in Pakistan.
Drones armed with missiles have played a significant role in US counter-terrorism operations as the Obama administration winds down the war in Afghanistan and Washington's focus expands to militant havens in countries including Pakistan.
The United States vacated a remote air base, used to stage classified drone flights against militants, in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province last month. Pakistan had asked US forces to leave the base after the November air strike.
The Obama administration contends that drone strikes have helped weaken the central leadership of al-Qaeda and put associated militant groups on the defensive.
Many such groups operate in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Reuters