A US drone killed three suspected militants in an attack on a compound in Kurram Agency on Friday, officials said, in the first strike since President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on Pakistan.

Officials said the strike took place in remote Ghuz Ghari village in Kurram agency, close to the Afghan border where at least five fighters from the Afghan Taliban had gathered.

“The US drone fired two missiles, at least three fighters from the Afghan Taliban have been killed and two wounded,” a senior government official in Kurram Agency told AFP.

The identities of those killed and wounded remained unclear but an intelligence official in Kurram said one of the dead belonged to the Haqqani network.

Two other mid-level government officials confirmed the strike and casualties and told AFP that the compound was completely destroyed in the attack.

The US is believed to have ordered at least two other drone attacks this year.

The first US strike under the Trump administration killed two men riding a motorbike in Kurram Agency in March, while the second suspected attack happened in late April in North Waziristan.

In a major speech outlining US policy on Afghanistan last month, Trump lambasted Pakistan for sheltering “agents of chaos” and suggested ties with Islamabad would be adjusted immediately. He offered few details.

US drone attacks inside Pakistan have become rare over the past few years. In its last high-profile attack inside Pakistan, the United States had in May 2016 killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Balochistan.

Opinion

Editorial

Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....
Madressah oversight
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Madressah oversight

Bill should be reconsidered and Directorate General of Religious Education, formed to oversee seminaries, should not be rolled back.
Kurram’s misery
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Kurram’s misery

The state must recognise that allowing such hardship to continue undermines its basic duty to protect citizens’ well-being.
Hiking gas rates
19 Dec, 2024

Hiking gas rates

IMPLEMENTATION of a new Ogra recommendation to increase the gas prices by an average 8.7pc or Rs142.45 per mmBtu in...