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Today's Paper | May 04, 2024

Updated 02 Mar, 2017 07:53pm

Suspected US drone strike kills two 'militants' near Pak-Afghan border

A suspected missile-firing United States (US) drone killed two 'militants' on Thursday in Kurram Agency near the Pak-Afghan border, Pakistani officials in the area and a village elder said.

Officials claimed a missile struck the two men while they were riding a motorcycle in the area.

"A drone missile struck the motorcycle which caught fire and then exploded," said village elder Haji Zamin Hussain.

A government official alleged that the identity of one of the men killed was Qari Abdullah Subari, a senior Afghan Taliban commander.

An intelligence source claimed that the other man was also a Taliban member named Shakir.

The claims, however, have not yet been independently verified.

Tracking of drone strikes in the area is patchy since many of them take place in remote regions.

There has also been no comment on the matter as yet from American officials, who do not typically comment publicly on drone strikes.

The Foreign Office spokesman could not be reached for comment.

US drone attacks inside Pakistan have become rare over the past few years and the latest strike, if confirmed, would be the first in Pakistan since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

The US, in its last high-profile drone attack inside Pakistan, killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Balochistan last year.

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