US drone strike kills five in Shahi Khel area of North Waziristan
A US drone fire two missiles on a suspected militant compound Shahi Khel area.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk / AFP) - At least five people were killed in a US drone strike North Waziristan tribal region where Pak Army launched a full-scale military offensive last year.
According to sources, a US drone fire two missiles on a suspected militant compound Shahi Khel neihbourhood of Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan.
The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.
Pakistan officially denounces the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty.
The Pakistan Army launched a major offensive in the area in June and says it has killed more than 1,800 militants so far, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.
The latest strikes came after Pakistan ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of a December 16 attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, 134 of them children.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and the premier has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.
