MIRANSHAH: A drone fired missiles at a target in Miranshah, North Waziristan early on Thursday, killing at least three people, Express News reported.

The drone reportedly fired missiles at a room and vehicle in the Miranshah Bazaar that caused two large explosions and resulted in the deaths of three people, locals said.

The casualties are feared to rise.
This is the first strike in almost a month with the last drone attack being reported on September 30, 2013.

The attack comes almost a week after a rights groups Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch both released their reports on drone strikes and followed a report by UN Special Rapproteur on the same topic.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Senate was told by the defence ministry in a written statement that only 67 civilians had been killed in drone strikes since 2008, a figure in conflict with other numbers perviously released by the government and those cited by rights groups.

The submission said there had been 317 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2008, killing 2,160 militants and 67 civilians.

Pakistan regularly condemns the attacks as a violation of sovereignty and are counter productive. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif used his recent trip to Washington last week to press for their end.


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