KABUL
U.S. drone missiles killed at least 10 Pakistani militants in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan late on Saturday,
The attack was part of the most extreme offensive against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in recent years.
A U.S. predator drone launched missiles at a hideout in Shegal district, a mountainous area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A group leader was among those killed, Afghan authorities said.
The militants were in a meeting to organize attacks on Afghan and NATO forces, Kunar police chief Abdul Habib Sayed Kheli told The Anadolu Agency.
The attack was carried out in a mountainous area, and there were no reports of civilian causalities.
“Drone strikes have severely hurt insurgents in the area, and they are looking for mouse holes to hide in,” he added.
The Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, with its rough mountains and long unprotected border with Pakistan, has long been a favored hideout for insurgents. It is regarded as a safe place by Taliban commanders and al-Qaeda operatives.
There are few border posts between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the area, according to Kheli, and militants from the other side of the border easily infiltrate Afghan territory.
U.S. forces have considerably increased drone attacks on militants, and they have proved effective.
International armed forces did not respond positively to Afghan government demands to empower the Afghan air force, says retired army officer Col. Mohammad Naeem. But drone strikes on Taliban militants` hideouts can be an indirect answer to Afghan requests, he explained.
International Security Assistance Forces have been conducting the attacks based on their own accurate and confidential intelligence reports which reduce civilian casualties, Naeem said.
“Because of the effectiveness of the drone strikes, most of the Taliban senior people have escaped to Pakistan, or at least are not able to hold their regular meetings,” Naeem said.
The Taliban did not comment on the issue.
On Dec. 5, two U.S. drone attacks in eastern Laghman province killed four Taliban insurgents including a senior official.
The U.S. maintains that the drone strikes precisely target militants. But a recent investigative report issued by the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism says hundreds of civilians were killed by unmanned predator strikes targeting 16 al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. The report said that specific militant leaders have been reported two and three times as having been killed in strikes.
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