US drone attacks in Pakistan's north west region of Waziristan is claimed to have killed 14 millitants
PESHAWAR - Two US drone attacks Thursday killed at least 14 militants in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region, intelligence officials said.
The two separate attacks took place along the Afghan border in the North Waziristan, the tribal region considered a stronghold of Al Qaida and Taliban militants, the officials said.
In the first attack, a drone fired two missiles at a house in Spalgai area, 12 km from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
Six suspected militants were killed and seven injured, said the officials who refused to be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
Hours later, drone triggered missiles hit a vehicle traveling near the town of Mir Ali, killing at least eight militants.
A CNN report said the Thursday drone strikes were the sixth and seventh this year. There were more than 60 drone strikes last year and over 110 in 2010.
The attacks by CIA-operated drones are targeted at militants leading to deaths of scores of them, but human rights groups alleged that the strikes have also killed hundreds of civilians, including children.
US President Barack Obama earlier this month publicly acknowledged for the first time that America uses drone strikes against militants in Pakistan.
But he defended the operations saying they are used for "very precise, precision strikes" in the fight against Al Qaida.
Pakistan has rejected the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty. :
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