US drone attack kills four militants in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jun 2: Fo a ur militants were killed after US drone targeted a vehicle in the South

tribal region of Pakistan on Saturday. The drone struck in Khwashi Khel village, located near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan Agency, official sources said.

Six drone strikes by the US have rocked Pakistan since May 23. Most of the strikes have been carried out in North Waziristan Agency, described by US and Afghan officials as a safe haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda elements.

The US stepped up drone strikes shortly after the conclusion of the NATO Summit in Chicago, where Pakistan did not make any announcement about ending its blockade of supply routes to Afghanistan. The supply lines were shut after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year. The drone strikes have added to tensions between the US and Pakistan with the latter calling the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty and called for their immediate suspension.

The US had eased its drone campaign in Pakistan's tribal areas after a CIA contractor was arrested for shooting and killing two Pakistani men in Lahore early last year and the unilateral American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in May last year.

PTI