US drone attack kills at least five Taliban fighters in Pakistan – report

A US drone fired two missiles at a militant hideout in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least five Taliban fighters, two security officials said.

In a separate operation, the military said Pakistani security forces killed five “terrorists” on the outskirts of Peshawar, where the Pakistani Taliban carried out a school massacre earlier this week, killing 148 people, mainly children.

The school attack shocked the nation and prompted a massive military response in the tribal regions along the Afghan border, longtime strongholds of both foreign and local militants. Pakistani air strikes and ground operations in the Khyber region – where the school attack is believed to have originated – have killed around 200 militants.

The drone strike took place in the town of Datta Khel in North Waziristan, where Pakistani troops have been carrying out a major operation against local and foreign militants since June, the officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media, said the men killed in the drone strike fought under local Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur. It was not immediately clear if the drone strike was connected to the school massacre.

US officials rarely if ever comment on the covert drone programme, which has eliminated several top militants but has also resulted in civilian casualties, making it extremely unpopular among Pakistanis.

Also on Saturday, a security official and a police officer were killed during a shootout with militants in Peshawar, police officer Ijaz Ahmed said. He said two militants were killed.