Drones slaughter scores in Waziristan

PESHAWAR (AFP/Reuters) - At least 51 people were killed Tuesday when US missiles hit Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud’s stronghold in South Waziristan, officials said.
There were, however, conflicting reports about the exact number of casualties caused by second US drone attack on the people attending the funeral prayers of those who were killed in the first strike in the area.
A private TV channel reported that almost 90 people were killed in the attack while another TV channel, quoting its sources, reported that 65 people perished in the missile hit.
The first strike by an unmanned drone aircraft took place near Makeen village, 60km northeast of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.
“A missile attack by a suspected US drone took place in rugged mountainous terrain in Neej Narai in South Waziristan,” said a Pakistani security official who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He said the first drone fired three missiles Tuesday morning, adding that “six militants were killed and seven others wounded in the attack.”
Another security official confirmed the incident and casualties, saying that the missiles destroyed a compound, a bunker and two vehicles of the Taliban in the semi-autonomous tribal belt along the Afghan border.
As Taliban gathered for funeral rites for the dead, including a commander, later in the day in the Makeen area, another unmanned drone aircraft dropped three more missiles, killing at least 45 of them and injuring dozens more, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
“Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for Niaz Wali,” one of the intelligence officials said referring to a Taliban commander killed in an earlier drone attack on Tuesday.