US Drone Strikes Kill Eight, Wound 12 in North Waziristan

Officials Term All Slain 'Suspects'

US drone strikes launched a pair of drone strikes against North Waziristan Agency today, killing at least eight people and wounding another 12. The strikes destroyed a car in the village of Datta Khel, then destroyed a home in Mir Ali.

Pakistani sources termed all eight of the slain people “suspects,” but the 12 wounded people were transported to local hospitals and none of them appear to have been arrested or charged with anything as the result of the US attack.

The Obama Administration has dramatically increased the number of drone strikes against North Waziristan over the past few months, with officials terming almost everyone killed a suspect, though few have actually been named.

But even the named victims of the strikes don’t always pan out. A claim of the death of Qari Hussain Mehsud earlier this month, the fourth such death for the top TTP official, turned out to be untrue.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.