8 Taliban Fighters of German Nationality Killed in US Drone Missile Attack on North Waziristan, October 4, 2010

8 Taliban Fighters of German Nationality Killed in US Drone Missile Attack on North Waziristan

October 4, 2010

Unauthorized US attack kills 8 Pakistanis

Press TV, Mon Oct 4, 2010 6:19PM

The death toll from a non-UN-sanctioned attack by unmanned US planes on Pakistan's troubled tribal belt has reached eight with several people wounded.

According to Pakistani security officials, a US drone bombed a house in North Waziristan near the Afghan border. Officials say the house belonged to a local resident.

The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are reportedly in critical condition, a Press TV correspondent in Pakistan reported on Monday.

The identities of those killed have not been officially declared yet.

However, a Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that at least five of the victims are believed to be German.

The US-led forces have carried out a record number of unauthorized airstrikes in Pakistan this year.

In the most recent of such attacks, two US drone attacks killed at least 18 people in Pakistan on Saturday.

The drone attacks, initiated by former US president George W. Bush and continued under President Barack Obama, have drastically increased in recent weeks at a time when floods have caused devastation in the country.

This has turned into a source of tension between Islamabad and Washington. Islamabad has condemned the airstrikes, describing them as a violation of its sovereignty.

In retaliation to the surge in cross-border attacks, Pakistan has closed its borders with Afghanistan to NATO supply trucks.

ASH/AKM/MMN

Drone strike kills 8 Germans in northwest Pakistan

Reuters, Monday, October 4, 2010

A suspected U.S. drone strike killed eight fighters of German nationality in northwest Pakistan on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

They were killed when two missiles from a suspected CIA pilotless aircraft struck a mosque in Mirali in North Waziristan, the intelligence officials said.

The strikes came a day after the United States and Britain issued warnings of an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe.

The United States has stepped up drone missile bombings on the Pakistan border with Afghanistan. It is as yet unclear, however, how closely these intensified drone strikes are linked to the reported plot in Europe.

NATO helicopters from Afghanistan have also attacked militant targets within Pakistan, drawing anger in Islamabad which has condemned these as violation of sovereignty.

Pakistan blocked one of the supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan after a helicopter strike last week killed three Pakistani soldiers in the western Kurram region.

(Editing by Myra MacDonald)

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