US drone strikes kill 5 militants in N Waziristan

A US drone aircraft fired two missiles into a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing five militants and injuring one. The missiles targeted a militant hideout in the Machis area near Miranshah town in the North Waziristan tribal region.The identity of the militants killed in the strike could not be ascertained. We have confirmation of four deaths, so far. The death toll could be more, an intelligence official in the area said. The United States has intensified its unmanned aerial drone attacks in North Waziristan since a December 30 suicide bombing at a heavily fortified US base across the border in the eastern Afghan province of Khost that killed seven CIA employees. US officials last week said Hussein al-Yemeni, a top al Qaeda planner who Washington believed helped organise the Khost bombing, was apparently killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan this month. US officials say the pilotless drones are one of the most effective weapons against militants. The strikes have killed senior Taliban and al Qaeda figures but Pakistan officially opposes such attacks and says they undermine its efforts against militants.