7 killed in U.S.drone strike in NW Pakistan

The death toll of a Tuesday morning's U.S. drone strike in northwest Pakistan has risen to seven, reported local Urdu TV channel Express. Earlier media reports said that five people were killed and four others injured in the U.S. drone strike in the Miransha area of North Waziristan, one of the seven tribals in northwest Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan. Two more people were later confirmed killed in the strike. Identities of the people killed in the strike are not known yet. Local media quoted anonymous security officials as saying that the U.S. drones fired at least two missiles at a house suspected of being a militant hideout in Miransha, a main town in North Waziristan. North Waziristan is believed to be a haven of militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. Militants in the area often launch attacks on the U.S.-led NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan across the border. The U.S. side has repeatedly demanded the Pakistani side to launch a ground operation in the area to wipe out the militants there, but the Pakistani side has refused the U.S. request owning to various concerns including lack of enough military resources and more possible attacks by the militants in the country. This leaves the U.S. no choice but to continue the drone strikes in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border despite the repeated protests by the Pakistani people as they believe the U.S. drones have violated their country's space territorial right apart from killing and wounding many innocent civilians. Tuesday's U.S. drone strike is the 61st of its kind (counted on daily basis) in Pakistan in 2011. To date, a total of 516 people have reportedly been killed in such strikes since this year.