A "US drone fired two missiles at a camp and a vehicle of the militants, killing six terrorists," said a Pakistani security source , who asked not to be named. A second Pakistani security official gave the same account.
It was not possible to confirm these data or to verify the identities of the victims from independent sources, as the tribal areas remain strictly off-limits to foreign media correspondents.
The area is also being pounded by the Pakistani military, as the armed forces continue a large-scale operation they launched in mid-June against the Pakistani Taliban and other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups. The operation has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Pakistan's military said yesterday it had killed 76 "terrorists", including "foreigners", a term it usually uses to refer to extremists from Central Asian and Arab states, in fresh airstrikes in the tribal areas. The toll could not be independently confirmed.
Officially, Pakistan opposes UAV raids on its territory, emphasizing, among other things, that it itself bombs positions of armed Islamists, but documents that have come to light in recent years have confirmed that Islamabad approves and supports at least some of the strikes.
