DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two separate US drone strikes struck a militant compound in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan and a vehicle in Afghanistan, killing 11 militants, mostly from the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, officials said on Friday.

Seven militants were killed in the first strike in the Pakistani border village of Gorwak in North Waziristan, once a stronghold of local and foreign militants until the military cleared them out.

The apparent target of the strike was Haqqani network’s local commander, Qudrat Ullah, but it was unclear if he was among those killed when the drone’s missiles struck the compound, two officials said.

The officials said there were unconfirmed reports about the killing of a senior Pakistani Taliban commander, Khalid Mehsud, who is also known as commander Sajna, in a separate strike in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Also on Friday, missiles fired from US drone slammed into a vehicle in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province, killing four militants, said Shah Mohammad Aryan, a spokesman for the provincial chief police.

Associated Press