KALAYA: A drone strike killed a militant commander and one of his accomplices in the Spin Thall area of Orakzai Agency, adjacent to Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday.

According to officials, the US drone fired two missiles at the alleged compound of Haqqani network commander Abubakar at Sehri time.

The strike eliminated Abubakar and one of his close aides while the compound was destroyed.

According to locals, a drone kept hovering over the area for some time before it fired two missiles at the compound. The Spin Thall area borders on North Waziristan, Kurram Agency and Hangu district.

Government officials differed over the place where the attack occurred. According to Hangu police, the area is a part of the Orakzai Agency. On the other hand, officials of the Orakzai Agency administration said the area fell within the jurisdiction of Hangu district’s Thall tehsil.

A US drone had targeted a madressah in Thall tehsil in Nov 2013.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2017