9 Pakistani militants dead in US drone strike

Nine militants, including a top insurgent leader, were killed in a US drone strike in the South Waziristan a tribal region of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, officials said on Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether the victims were Pakistani or foreign fighters, Political administration official Syeda Jan Wazir told Pajhwok Afghan News. An Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani leader was among the dead, a news channel reported. Ilyas Kashmiri, the Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HJI) chief, was the target of the drone raid. The US drone fired five missiles into a house, destroying it and damaging several other houses, said a resident of the area, Zar Jan Mehsud. He claimed five of the victims were civilians with no links to armed groups.