U.S. drone strike kills nine militants on Pak-Afghan border
The CIA-operated unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on two militant hideouts.
KHYBER AGENCY (Web Desk / Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed nine militants belonging to outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam in Nazyan village of Nangarhar province of Afghanistan near Pakistan border today (Tuesday), Dunya News reported.
The CIA-operated unmanned aircraft fired two missiles and destroyed two militant compounds in the village.
The strikes come amid warming relations between the traditionally hostile neighbours, each of whom has accused the other of harbouring insurgents to act as proxy forces.
Relations improved after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was elected last year. Pakistan is supporting potential peace talks between the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban. But Pakistan also wants to see action against TTP militants hiding in Afghanistan.
Pakistan believes that TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is hiding in Afghanistan since he escaped a military operation by army troops in his native Swat valley in 2009 and has demanded his repatriation.
Fazlullah nicknamed the "Radio Mullah" is said to be in contact with the Peshawar school attackers during the assault that left 154 people dead, mostly school children on December 16, 2014.
Pakistani forces are engaged in a full-scale offensive in northwest tribal areas and so far more than 1,200 militants have been killed in the operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched in June last year, to flush out local and foreign militants from the region.
