US drone strike kills two in NW Pakistan

A US drone strike targeting a militant compound killed at least two suspected insurgents in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border on Friday, AFP reports according to officials. The strike took place in the Anghar area, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. "A US drone fired two missiles on a militant compound, killing two suspected militants," a senior security official told AFP. Another security official also confirmed the attack and casualties that took place after midnight (1900 Thursday GMT). The identities of those killed in the strike were not immediately known but they appeared to be of Central Asian origin, the official said. Last week a US drone attack on a seminary linked to the feared Haqqani militant network in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest killed at least six people. The attack, which militant sources said killed the Haqqanis' spiritual leader along with five others, was extremely unusual in that it was mounted outside Pakistan's lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border. North Waziristan is one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions which Washington considers to be a major hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan. The government criticises drone strikes as a violation of sovereignty and counterproductive to anti-terror efforts. But ties with Washington have nevertheless improved this year after lurching from crisis to crisis in 2011 and 2012. Last month the US announced it would release $1.6 billion in aid and Washington's support was seen as important in Pakistan securing a $6.7 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund in September.