US assassination drone strikes kill 16 in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani protesters shout slogans while burning a US flag during a demonstration in Multan against the US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belt, May 25, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/04/244514/us-terror-drones-kill-in-nw-pakistan/

As many as 16 people have been killed and four others injured in an airstrike carried out by US assassination drones on the northwestern Pakistan tribal area of North Waziristan.

Early Monday morning, the unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a residential building and a vehicle in the Mir Ali area, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border , killing 16 people and injuring four more.

The Monday airstrike is the third attack in the area over the past three days, during which time a total of 30 people were killed in the raids.

Four drones were reportedly hovering over the tribal belt after the attacks.

More than 150 people have died in 20 drone attacks in Pakistan's northwest tribal region since the beginning of this year.

Despite the Pakistani government’s repeated calls on Washington to end the drone attacks, the US has increased the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes

Waziristan and other tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan have been frequently targeted by US drones over the past few years.

Washington has been using its pilotless drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and claims that it is targeting militants, but civilians are the main victims in the attacks.

Figures show that the American drone strikes killed at least 212 people in Yemen and Pakistan in the month of May.

The aerial attacks were initiated by former US President George W. Bush but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.