US drone strike kills seven in North Waziristan

NORTH WAZIRISTAN (92 News) – At least seven suspected Taliban militants were killed in a US drone strike – the first after President Donald Trump took office – in Pakistan’s in Lwaara Mandi area of Datta Khel Tehsil of North Waziristan Agency on Friday.

The missiles struck a compound on the outskirts of Dattakhel town in North Waziristan agency, close to Afghan border.

The militants killed in the strike belonged to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The air strike was the first drone attack inside the nuclear-armed nation since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

More than 3,450 people have been killed in 416 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004, local media reports said.

According to international think tanks and human rights groups -- including Amnesty international and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism -- 70 percent of drone victims were unarmed civilians.

Despite Pakistan's public objections to the US drone strikes, it is rumored to have given tacit approval to the ongoing controversial operations. Pakistan has also developed its own drone to use in the militant-hit northwestern tribal belt.