MOSCOW, January 4 (Sputnik) — At least seven militants were killed in the new year's first US drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal territory, the News Tribe reported Sunday.
The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a suspected Pakistani Taliban compound where a meeting was allegedly held between Uzbek and Pakistani militants, the news agency said, citing local media.
Earlier on Saturday, the Pakistan army reported killing 31 militants and destroying a number of training centers and hideouts in Khyber, north of Waziristan.
Islamabad has stepped up operations against tribal areas soon after the December 16 Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar killing 148, mostly children.
The government also lifted a six-year-old moratorium on the death penalty, executing a number of suspected terrorists in the past two weeks and planning to hang a total of 500 death row inmates.
