A missile strike by a US drone in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) killed five people and injured six others on Saturday.
Two al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Al-Asr Al-Misri and British militant Rashid Rauf, were among the dead.
Eye witnesses said two missiles were fired by a CIA-operated spy plane during the early hours of Saturday at the house of Khaliq Noor in Alikhel area of the NWA, killing five people, including three foreigners. Six others were also injured in the attack. The strike left the targeted house completely destroyed.
Two US Predators continued to fly even after the attack and remained in Pakistan’s airspace till Saturday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses said the tribesmen in various parts of the tribal territory also fired upon the drones.
The attack came despite a strong protest lodged by the government over the repeated violations of Pakistan’s territorial integrity on Thursday, when the US ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office after the US drones struck a house in Bannu district on Wednesday, the first-ever attack in the settled areas of the NWFP.
Rashid Rauf, holding dual citizenship of Britain and Pakistan, was a prime suspect of the alleged terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives on board several airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada in 2006. Rauf was arrested but later managed to escape on his way to jail on December 14 last year in Islamabad and was not seen ever since.
Rauf was married to a relative of Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the banned Jaish-e-Muhammad. One of Rauf’s brothers, Tayib Rauf, was among those arrested in Britain, although he was later released.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ahmedullah Ahmedi, reacting to the US attack, claimed that all the victims were local residents and there was no foreigner among the dead or injured, adding that the US drone had once again killed innocent civilians, including minors.
He also condemned an attack on the Army convoy at Pir Killay and denied the involvement of local Taliban in the attack. He said the Taliban were willing to restore peace in the area by accepting and offering peace talks to the government.
“We have nothing to do with the killing of innocent civilians and destroying their properties. Our target is the government, which wants to appease the US,” he added.
Our Kohat correspondent adds: US drones once again violated the airspace of Pakistan, hovering over Kohat and Bannu districts on Saturday. Eye witnesses said they saw two drones hovering over Kohat and Bannu.
Meanwhile, gunship helicopters were also seen hovering over Kohat and Darra Adamkhel all day long on Saturday, an unusual development.