PESHAWAR: A US drone fired a missile at a compound in the Mata Sangar area near the Afghan border in Kurram Agency on Sunday night, sources said.

They said that the missile was fired at the compound at around 9pm, but no casualty was reported. Mata Sangar, a hamlet, lies near Ghuzgarhi south of Parachinar.

Locals said that the missile hit a mosque which was also used as a ‘resting’ place.

They said that planes had been hovering over the area for the last three days.

The sources said that the compound, which came under attack on Sunday night, belonged to militant ‘commander’ Bashrat Khan, affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

It was the fourth drone strike in the Ghuzgarhi area since October that left around 40 suspected militants dead, including some fighters belonging to the Haqqani network.

Officials believed that the area had a concentration of Pakistani and Afghan Taliban and was inaccessible.

Drone strikes surged in Kurram in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new Afghan policy in August in which Pakistan was accused of offering “safe havens to agents of chaos”.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

CPEC slowdown
Updated 09 Dec, 2024

CPEC slowdown

Current CPEC slowdown doesn't mean China has lost interest in the connectivity project or in Pakistan.
Madressah bill
09 Dec, 2024

Madressah bill

A CONTROVERSY has been brewing over the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, with the JUI-F slamming ...
Protecting varsities
09 Dec, 2024

Protecting varsities

THE recent proposal by the Sindh cabinet to shoehorn in non-PhD bureaucrats as vice chancellors has sparked concern...
Stirring trouble
Updated 08 Dec, 2024

Stirring trouble

The demands put forth this time are simple and doable at little political cost.
Unfairness in cricket
08 Dec, 2024

Unfairness in cricket

HOPES that cricketing ties between Pakistan and India would be strengthened by the latter team’s visit across the...
Syria rebel advance
08 Dec, 2024

Syria rebel advance

CITY after city in Syria is falling into rebel hands as Bashar al-Assad’s government looks increasingly vulnerable...