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US drone strike 'kills five Pakistani Taliban militants' after Peshawar school massacre

President Obama had vowed to supported Pakistan after the atrocity

Lizzie Dearden
Saturday 20 December 2014 09:47 GMT
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The US is usually secretive about its drone strikes
The US is usually secretive about its drone strikes (AP)

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An American drone has reportedly killed five Taliban militants at a hideout in Pakistan in the wake of the massacre of more than 130 children at a school.

Barack Obama had offered support to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Tuesday’s attack, with the President pledging to support Pakistan “in its fight against extremism” during a phone call.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed into the Army Public School in Peshawar, shooting pupils at random and detonating bombs, killing 148 people during a siege lasting eight hours.

Pakistan immediately responded with air strikes against Taliban militants and on Saturday morning, officials said a US drone hit a militant hideout with two missiles.

The Taliban fighters who stormed a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, in an image released by the Pakistani Taliban
The Taliban fighters who stormed a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, in an image released by the Pakistani Taliban (AP)

It was in the town of Datta Khel in North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, where Pakistani troops have been carrying out a major operation against local and foreign militants since June.

Pakistani officials said the five killed men fought under a local Taliban commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

The Pakistani Taliban have threatened that the Peshawar school attack was “just the trailer” to further terrorism.

Additional reporting by AP

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