US drones continue to pound Pak's tribal region, 11 extremists killed

Peshawar, Jan.16 (ANI): Unmanned US Predator aircraft continued to pound Pakistan's lawless tribal region on Friday evening, with 11 extremists reportedly being killed in twin drones strikes in North Waziristan.

According to officials, at least five drones were seen hovering over the region and fired four missiles targeting a suspected militant hideout.

Local administrative officials also confirmed the missile hit, The Nation reports.

Sources said the US drones fired missiles close to the region where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hakimullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a similar strike earlier this week.

Earlier, a Pakistani security official had claimed that the drone attack which killed at least ten people, had also left three militant commanders dead, including Mehsud.

However, a TTP spokesperson said that while Mehsud was in the area of northwest Pakistan where a US drone strike killed 10 people on Thursday, he left before the missiles hit.

The attacks came just a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the missile strikes or any ground operations inside Pakistan would affect bilateral ties with the US.

While Pakistan has raised objections over such strikes on a number of occasion, the Obama administration has made it clear that it would continue with its plan of targeting the extremists hiding inside Pakistan's terrirtory along the Afghan border. (ANI)