US airstrike kills four Haqqani militants in Pakistan: Report

Dera Ismail Khan [Pakistan], November 30 (ANI): Four militants have reportedly been killed in a US drone strike targeting a hideout of Haqqani network militants near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

This is the fourth such strike inside Pakistan since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

The Express Tribune quoted two Pakistani intelligence officials and a local government officer as saying that an unmanned aerial vehicle dropped two missiles on compound housing militants under the command of a senior network commander, Abdur Rasheed Haqqani.

The newspaper report, attributing the information to an unnamed source, said a blast in the Upper Kurram area was initially reported by the villagers to the authorities but later an informant told that it was a US drone strike that targeted Haqqanis.

However, it was not clear if the commander was among those killed in the airstrike.

The US has been putting pressure on Islamabad to take a decisive action against the Haqqani network militants, who have bases inside Pakistan, since Trump announced his new strategy for the Afghanistan.

Haqqani network militants use Pakistani soil to launch attacks against American-led NATO troops in Afghanistan.

However, Pakistan has repeatedly denied the charges. (ANI)