Pakistan ( Least 6 Dead in U.S. Drone Strike in Pakistan )

ISLAMABAD – At least six suspected insurgents died in a U.S. drone strike against a building in a tribal area of North Waziristan, a Pakistani official told Efe on Monday.

“The home, which was hit by two missiles, belonged to a group of foreign paramilitaries and those who died were not Pakistanis,” regional administrator Rehman Sha said by telephone from Peshawar.

The attack occurred late Sunday in the area of Data Khel, he said.

The missile hit the home as the occupants were sharing the “iftar” meal that breaks the daytime fast practiced by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, a Data Khel resident told Geo television.

Officials cited by Geo said the strike took place in the Shawal Valley near the porous Afghan border and is often used by insurgents, “especially foreigners,” as a summer refuge.

North Waziristan is often the scene of U.S. drone attacks.

This year there have been some 15 attacks that have killed close to 100 people, most of them identified by authorities as suspected insurgents.

A confidential Pakistani government report published last week by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism found that of 746 people killed by drones between 2006-2009, at least 147 “are clearly stated to be civilian victims, 94 of those are said to be children.”

The death of civilians is one of the main sore points between Islamabad and Washington.

Despite their public criticism of drones, Pakistani authorities are suspected to have tacitly accepted their use. EFE