18 TTP militants killed in drone attack in Afghanistan, say officials

PESHAWAR: Eighteen or more fighters of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in a drone strike in the Paktiya province, Afghan officials said on Wednesday.

The officials confirmed that the Taliban were killed in the latest strike by an unmanned aircraft in the Pak-Afghan border areas. Nabiullah Peerkhel, the Paktika governor’s spokesman, told the Mashaal Radio the militants were heading to the border region of Afghanistan when the drones rained down missiles on them in the Gomal district.

While the exact identity of the militants killed could not be determined, reports from Wana, South Waziristan, suggested that 14 men were from the Mehsud tribe and four from the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe.

Officials confirmed the report saying a number of bodies had been shifted and buried in villages scattered near the border areas. The compound of TTP militants, headed by Said Khan Sajna, is located just across the border in the Beermal area connecting Waziristan with the Paktiya province.