PESHAWAR — At least nine suspected militants, including two foreigners, were killed in Pakistan's lawless tribal region in a US drone strike and a separate Pakistan military operation, security officials said on Sunday. Pakistan has seen a spate of militant attacks since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office last month, putting pressure on his team to act more aggressively to curb the insurgency. In the third such attack since Sharif came to power, two suspected militants riding a motorcycle were struck by missiles in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan on Saturday night, one official said. “The two men, probably Arab nationals, were passing through Mosaki village when the drone fired two missiles and hit them,” said the official. Their identities were not clear. Another security source said they were foreign militants of Turkmen origin. In a separate operation by the Pakistan Air Force, jets pounded several militant hideouts overnight, killing seven insurgents, senior security officials said. “These areas are known as strongholds of the militants from where they stage deadly attacks in Kohat and Peshawar,” one official in Kohat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Pakistani military officials believe mountains linking the Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram tribal areas are one of the main strongholds for the Taliban-linked militants in Pakistan. Another senior military official in Peshawar confirmed that air strikes had taken place “somewhere between Orakzai and Khyber.” — Reuters
