Islamabad, October 17: Three people were killed Friday as the first missile hit a vehicle in Machi Khel. The second missile strike occurred several hours later, killing six other people at a house in Aziz Khel.
The victims of the attacks are mostly civilians.
The US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region on the Afghan border reached a crescendo in September with 21 missile strikes.
Most of the attacks took place in the North Waziristan tribal area — a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
Though Washington at times has claimed it has an agreement with Islamabad about such attacks, the Pakistani authorities insist there has never been such a deal and that they view the airstrikes as repeated violations of the country’s sovereignty.
The missile strikes have proven “counterproductive” as large numbers of outraged residents of the border areas are beginning to support the militants, according to Pakistani officials.
“We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters last week. He added, “We hope that the US will revisit its policy.”
——–Agencies