Fresh U.S. drone strike kills five insurgents in Pakistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A U.S. drone strike on a militant compound killed five insurgents in northwest Pakistan's lawless tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said, according to AFP.

"The drone fired two missiles on a house in Hassokhel town," 25 kilometers (16 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, a security official said. "So far five bodies have been recovered from the compound, which is ringed by militants."

Two other officials confirmed early Thursday, May 24 attack, saying the number of casualties may go up.

Washington considers Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt the main hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.

North Waziristan is a stronghold of the Haqqani network - Afghan insurgents blamed for a series of spectacular attacks on Western targets in Kabul - and Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. Islamabad has been resisting U.S. pressure to launch a sweeping offensive against militants in the area.

Thursday's drone strike came after one on Wednesday that killed four militants in the same region, and followed a summit of NATO alliance leaders in Chicago earlier this week.

Pakistan says the missile attacks are counter-productive, violate its sovereignty, kill civilians and fuel anti-U.S. sentiment.

Residents and local officials said Thursday's strike also damaged a nearby mosque where three worshippers believed to be Central Asian nationals were wounded. There condition was serious, one source said.