US Drone Strike Kills Five in North Waziristan

Follows Up on Pakistan Condemnation With Another Attack

by Jason Ditz, February 06, 2013

Less than 24 hours after Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman condemned continued US drone strikes and denied charges that the Pakistani government was quietly complicit, the US struck again.

The latest attack saw six missiles destroying a house in Tehsil Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan Agency, killing five unidentified people. Locals recovered the bodies of the slain, but said they could not identify anyone.

Unusually, even the Pakistani security forces have yet to call the slain “suspects,” which may suggest that the anger over civilian killings and fear of fallout in Pakistan’s upcoming elections has them less eager to shrug off attacks on seemingly random cities.

Pakistani opposition parties are running on promises to stop US drone attacks, something the current government has failed to do. The ruling PPP insist that the US attacks are a violation of their sovereignty, but the US claims they assume “tacit consent” from them.

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