国际英语新闻:8 killed, 6 injured in U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and six others injured when a U.S. drone fired missiles in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Monday night, local media reported.

Dawn TV said that the U.S. pilotless aircraft fired two missiles at a compound located in Shawal area of North Waziristan, a restive area at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The compound was leveled to the ground following the attack, trapping several people inside, who were later recovered and shifted to a nearby hospital by local people.

Identities of the killed people have not been determined yet.

Some local media reports said that the house of a Taliban commander Mullah Habibullah was targeted, but it is still unclear whether the commander himself was present in the house or not.

Drones hovered over the area before and after the strike, creating panic among the residents which include a large number of women and kids.

Monday night's strike is the 11th of its kind in Pakistan and the ninth in North Waziristan since the beginning of this year. Over 81 people have been killed and several others injured in U.S. drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan since January 2014.

The attack came at a time when the Pakistani army is launching a major military offensive in the North Waziristan region, which is believed to be a sanctuary of local, Afghan and Uzbek militants.

The operation, called "Zarb-e-Azb," was started on June 15 and has so far claimed the lives of over 1,200 militants in air strikes and ground operations launched by the army.

The operation also resulted in the displacement of over 1 million people from the area who are taking refuge in camps formed for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.