A US drone today fired a pair of missiles into Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, near Shawal, killing at least four people, and according to some reports from security officials five. Two others were wounded in the attack.
The slain were, as usual, identified as suspected militants, with Pakistani officials claiming two Pakistani militants and either two or three Uzbeks were among the slain. The Pakistani government claimed another 10 killed in an airstrike of their own in nearby Datta Khel.
The US, as usual, is not publicly addressing their drone strike, nor taking any credit. Any comments from the Obama Administration are usually reserved for the rare cases when they have a name associated with someone they killed. The vast majority of those slain in US strikes are forever anonymous.
It is noteworthy, however, to mention that the Pakistani government has once again not publicly criticized the drone strike. Condemning US strikes used to be virtually obligatory for the Sharif government, as the strikes remain hugely unpopular domestically. Recently, however, it seems they’ve simply gotten used to the US strikes, and aren’t discussing them either.