Drone strike kills 25 suspected militants

A US drone targeted a compound and a vehicle in the restive North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 25 militants of al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network, in the first such attack during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan.

Eight militants were injured in the attack. They were taken to a hospital in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency. The injured are in a critical condition, said a journalist who visited the hospital. All those killed in the strike were members of the Haqqani network, led by Afghan warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani, said local journalists.

US and Afghan officials blame the Haqqani network for cross-border attacks on NATO and allied forces in Afghanistan. The CIA-operated pilotless aircraft fired two missiles at the compound and vehicle at Kharunai, a small village located a kilometre from Miranshah.

The attack was carried out when the militants were having 'sehri', the pre-dawn meal before fasting begins. Security sources said the militants had arrived at the compound on late Tuesday night. Afghan and Pakistani militants arrived at the scene after the drones left the area and pulled bodies and the injured from the rubble of the destroyed compound.

They did not allow local residents to approach the site. Wednesday's strike was one of the deadliest in years in North Waziristan, which the US has described as the main base for al-Qaeda and Taliban  elements.