US Drone Strike Kills Five in North Waziristan

Pakistan: Three of the Slain Were Ethnic Uzbeks

Pakistani officials are reporting a US drone strike over the weekend against the North Waziristan tribal agency, saying it killed five suspected militants.

Three of the five were reported to be ethnic Uzbeks, and Pakistani officials dubbed the house destroyed in the strike a “suspected Taliban compound.”

In recent months, the Pakistani government has criticized the US drone strikes in official statements, though so far they have yet to offer any such criticism for the latest strike.

The US claims to have a secret “understanding” with Pakistan on such drone strikes, something that was reached back during the Musharraf junta, but the Sharif government has denied any such deals.

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.