Amid tension, US drone strike kills 3 in Pakistan tribal region

Amid tension between Pakistan and the United States, a US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal area of Orazkai Agency on Wednesday killed two people.

Security officials said two missiles hit a house in Spin Tal, a bordering area of North Waziristan and Orakzai Agencies.

Pakistan later condemned the drone strike in Kurram Agency carried out by the Resolute Support Mission ( RSM), which targeted an Afghan refugee camp.

“Pakistan has continued to emphasise to the US the importance of sharing actionable intelligence so that appropriate action is taken against terrorists by our forces within our territory,” said a foreign ministry statement.

It added: Pakistan has also been stressing the need of early repatriation of Afghan refugees as their presence in Pakistan helps Afghan terrorists to melt and morph among them.”

Such unilateral actions, it said, “as that of today, are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.”

Relations between Islamabad and Washington have frayed over the past month in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s angry tweet on January 1. The US this month also suspended military assistance worth about $ 2 billion.

Islamabad denies sheltering militants and accuses Washington of not respecting Pakistan’s vast sacrifices in the war on militancy.

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