The officials said four missiles slammed into a compound near the border town of Angore Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region. The strike was targeting fighters of Maulvi Nazir, a Pakistani militant commander who is accused of working with the Taliban and al-Qaida to direct cross-border attacks, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to media on record. [break]
Nazir is believed to have an agreement with Pakistani authorities that they will leave him alone so long as his men refrain from carrying out attacks on Pakistani soil.
Since 2008, Washington has regularly used drone-fired missiles to target insurgents and their hideouts in Pakistani tribal regions where local and Afghan factions like the Haqqanis and al-Qaida men are hiding. U.S. officials do not acknowledge the CIA-led program publicly, and Pakistan protests the strikes, which are unpopular in this Islamic nation.
Saturday´s strike was the latest in a string of missile attacks targeting the militant-infested border region.
On Friday, U.S. missiles killed four unidentified people in the North Waziristan tribal region. A day earlier, a missile attack in North Waziristan killed Janbaz Zadran. U.S. officials say Zadran was a top commander in the Haqqani network and had helped orchestrate attacks in Kabul and southeastern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistani police said Saturday they had arrested a Russian and two nationals from Azerbaijan in Lakki Marwat, a town located near North Waziristan.
It was not clear how the men reached the region, which is off limits to foreigners, and authorities said they were still investigating to determine whether the men had any links to militant groups.
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