US Bombs Pakistan… Again

As many as eight people have been killed in another US drone attack in pakistan. The US has reportedly killed more than 700 people in these attacks since 2006. Most are civilians— 2% of the dead were allegedly “al Qaeda”

By Jeremy Scahill

The US has continued its bombing campaign inside of Pakistan with another drone attack in the Waziristan region. There are conflicting reports on the number of dead. Some media sources allege “At least eight people were killed and several others injured,” while other sources put the number dead at three.

There are also conflicting reports about whether the dead are civilians.

According to The News in Pakistan, US spy drones “fired missiles at the houses of Daim Khan Wazir and Wali Khan Wazir at 10:00 am, leaving eight civilians dead and two others injured. The houses were completely destroyed in the attack and three vehicles parked inside were also damaged.”

The Nation (of Pakistan), however, reported that “All the killed persons have been reported as foreigners, affiliated with al-Qaeda, who were “using the house for training purposes.”

As we have previously reported, in just the first 99 days of 2009, US drone airstrikes against Pakistan have killed 152 people, averaging 38 killings per month and 11 killings per attack, according to the Pakistani government. Pakistani officials say three were carried out in January, killing 30 people, two in February killing 55 people, five in March killing 36 people and four were conducted in the first nine days of April, killing 31 people. Moreover, the government says that since 2006, the strikes have killed only 14 “al Qaeda” leaders but have taken the lives of nearly 700 civilians.