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Rediff.com  » News » US drone strike kills 8 in Pakistan's tribal region

US drone strike kills 8 in Pakistan's tribal region

October 23, 2008 19:27 IST
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At least eight people were killed and six others injured when two missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a 'madrassa' founded by a Taliban leader in Pakistan's restive tribal region.

The drone fired missiles at Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani's madrassa located a few kilometres from North Waziristan Agency's main town of Miranshah, late Wednesday night.

Witnesses said the eight people killed in the attack were local residents. Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said authorities were collecting information about the incident.

Haqqani's son Jalaluddin's house was targeted in a recent US drone strike that killed more than 10 people, including women.

About 80 people have died in missile strikes conducted by US forces in North and South Waziristan tribal regions since last month.

Wednesday's missile strike came even as a special session of Pakistan's Parliament resolved to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of cross-border attacks by the US-led forces in Afghanistan.

The resolution also said Pakistan would not allow its territory to be used "for any kind of attacks on other countries" and called on the government to deal with "incursions and invasions" effectively. It also said that all foreign fighters would be expelled.      Meanwhile, US officials told CNN that senior Al Qaida commander Khalid Habib, considered to have been an operations coordinator in the tribal region along the

Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was believed to have been killed recently in South Waziristan region.

Reports suggested that Habib was killed in a missile strike by a US drone at Saam in South Waziristan on October 16.

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