Kurram Agency: A US drone killed three suspected militants in an attack on a compound in Kurram Agency on Friday, officials said, in the first strike since President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on Pakistan.
Officials said the strike took place in remote Ghuz Ghari village in Kurram agency, close to the Afghan border where at least five fighters from the Afghan Taliban had gathered.
“The US drone fired two missiles, at least three fighters from the Afghan Taliban have been killed and two wounded,” a senior government official in Kurram Agency told AFP.
Two other mid-level government officials confirmed the strike and casualties and told AFP that the compound was completely destroyed in the attack.
The US is believed to have ordered at least two other drone attacks this year.
The first US strike under the Trump administration killed two men riding a motorbike in Kurram Agency in March, while the second suspected attack happened in late April in North Waziristan.
In a major speech outlining US policy on Afghanistan last month, Trump lambasted Pakistan for sheltering “agents of chaos” and suggested ties with Islamabad would be adjusted immediately. He offered few details.
US drone attacks inside Pakistan have become rare over the past few years. In its last high-profile attack inside Pakistan, the United States had in May 2016 killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Balochistan.
Published in Daily Times, September 16th 2017.
