Haqqani, Al-Qaeda Men Die In US Drone Attack

Islamabad, July 8, IRNA -- A ‘commander’ of the Haqqani network and an Al-Qaeda operative were among the 17 people killed in US drone strike in Pakistani North Waziristan tribal region earlier this week, according to official sources. They said those killed in the strike in Serai Darpakhel area near Miramshah Bazaar included Mullah Akhtar Zadran, a ‘commander’ of the Haqqani network, and Abu Saif Al-Jazeri, an operative of A-Qaeda. Also killed in the strike are said to be two Punjabi militant ‘commanders’ — Rana Ashraf and Naveed Butt. The other 13 victims were ‘foot soldiers’, the sources said. However, there was no independent confirmation of the claim. Local people are never allowed to go near the scene of a drone strike, which is immediately cordoned off by militants to retrieve the dead and wounded. Government officials rely on local contacts and radio intercepts to figure out the identities of the victims. Meanwhile a dozen mortar shells fired from across the Durand Lind landed in a border village of South Waziristan Agency Saturday night, injuring five tribesmen, government officials confirmed to media. Six mortar shells landed in the Angor Addar Bazaar and as many in the surrounding areas, the officials added. The shelling triggered a fire on a pile of fuel wood and coal in the bazaar. However, local tribesmen managed to put out the blaze. The injured tribesmen were taken to the agency headquarters hospital in Wana and a private clinic in Rustham Bazaar. One of them was shifted to DI Khan for treatment of his critical wounds./end