NORTH WAZIRISTAN AGENCY - At least eight suspected militants were killed when a US drone fired missiles on a target in the Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency late Sunday.
The drone fired two missiles in the Zoinari area of Tehsil Shawal in North Wazirisitan Agency, killing eight people on the spot.
According to NBC News, tribal sources said the drone fired missiles at a three-room structure where suspected militants were having an Iftar dinner, breaking their fast.
"The militants, including Arab fighters, were having an Iftar dinner in the compound when the drone fired two missiles. Later, an hour after the drone had disappeared, a group of militants arrived and started pulling out bodies," local tribesman Yasin Khan said.
Khan said that eight bodies, mutilated beyond recognition, were recovered from the wreckage of the building razed by the explosions.
The tribesman said local tribal militants later told him that four among the slain militants were Arab fighters.
Pakistani security officials also confirmed the drone strike and said it took place in the remote forest-covered Shawal Valley near the Afghan border, where the militants usually set up sanctuaries during the summer.
"Weather in Shawal remains very pleasant during summer and that's why most of the militant groups, particularly foreigners, shift their camps to this remote region," a security official said in Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region.
Requesting anonymity, the security official said they had intercepted conversations from the militants, in which they confirmed the killing of eight fighters in the strike, including four Arabs.
This was the fourth drone strike since Nawaz Sharif assumed the office of the prime minister. Earlier, on July 3 a drone fired missiles on a house in Miranshah Bazaar in North Waziristan, killing 17 people. The July 3 drone attack was considered to be the biggest launched this year.
Another drone strike which took place on July 13 killed two people in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan Agency.
Four cops injured in roadside blast
Staff Reporter from Peshawar adds: At least four police personnel were injured when a remote-controlled device targeted a police van near a private college here on Sunday morning.
Police said that the incident occurred when police vehicle was on its routine patrolling. Resultantly four policemen including an assistant sub inspector sustained injuries while the van was partially damaged.
Soon after the blast, local people shifted the injured to Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar for medical treatment. The injured are stated to be out of danger.
The injured are identified as ASI Ihsan Gul, Ijaz Ahmad, Delawar Khan and Rahmanullah.
According to bomb disposal squad, two kilograms explosive material was used in the blast. They confirmed that it was a remote-controlled blast.
INP adds: Four security officials died and 12 others injured as the vehicle in which they were travelling plunged into a gorge in Baka Khel here on Sunday. According to police sources, the bodies and injured were shifted to CMH.