US drone strikes in Pakistan kill ten suspected militants

American drones fired a series of missiles in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan yesterday, killing a total of ten suspected militants, Pakistani officials said.

In the first strike, missiles fired from unmanned CIA-operated spy planes hit two vehicles near the Afghan border, killing at least seven militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike came in the Mana area of North Waziristan.

The officials said the area is dominated by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a commander whose forces often strike Nato troops in Afghanistan, but they did not know whether his men were the targets of yesterday’s strike. A US drone strike on Saturday also in North Waziristan killed five Gul Bahadur allies.

About ten hours later, on Sunday, two missiles destroyed a home also in the Mana area, killing three militants, the officials said. The drone programme is hotly contested in Pakistan. Most Pakistanis feel the strikes violate the country’s sovereignty and kill innocent civilians. The US maintains they are directed against militants and necessary to combat groups such as al-Qaeda.

North Waziristan is one of the last tribal areas in north-western Pakistan, where the military has yet to launch an operation to root out militants.