US drone strike kills four near Pak-Afghan border

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A suspected US drone strike on Thursday targeted a hideout of the Haqqani network along Pakistan's mountainous border with Afghanistan, killing four people, officials said.

If confirmed, it would be the fourth such US strike inside Pakistan since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials and a local government officer said an unmanned aerial vehicle dropped two missiles on a compound housing  militants under the command of a senior network commander, Abdur Rasheed Haqqani.

Villagers initially reported a blast in the Upper Kurram area to authorities, said one of the officials, adding, "We got it from our informant later that it was a US drone strike that targeted Haqqanis."

It was not clear if the commander was among those killed, added the officials, who sought anonymity as the issue is a sensitive one.

Since the Afghan policy review, the US has been pushing Islamabad for decisive action against the Haqqani network.

Islamabad denies the allegations, and, instead, blames Kabul for not taking out militants who use Afghan territory as a base for attacks on targets in Pakistan.