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US missile strike kills 8 in Pakistan
A US missile strike killed eight alleged militants in northwest Pakistan marking the last day of a year that witnessed escalation in drone attacks on Afghan and Pakistani insurgents.
According to Pakistani officials, four missiles struck a convoy of militants travelling by car and on foot near the town of Ghulam Khan in the North Waziristan tribal area along the Afghan border.
Ghulam Khan is known to be dominated by fighters from a militant group headed by Maulvi Gul Bahadur.
It was the third missile attacks on the North Waziristan tribal region this week alone, part of a stepped-up US campaign to take out al-Qaida and Taliban fighters seeking sanctuary outside Afghanistan.
More than 110 such missile strikes have been launched throughout 2010 — more than double last year's total.
Nearly all have hit North Waziristan, a region that hosts several militant groups battling US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, including the feared Haqqani network.
