Three killed in U.S. drone strike in Pakistan

At least three people were killed and another two injured in a U.S. drone strike launched Friday afternoon in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of South Waziristan, reported local Urdu TV channel Geo. Local media quoted officials sources as saying that the U.S. drones fired two missiles at a house suspected of militants' hideout in the Tehsil Bermal area of South Waziristan, a place bordering Afghanistan and believed to be one of the strongholds of militants from Taliban and al-Qaida. Friday afternoon's U.S. drone strike is the 48th of its kind (counted on daily basis) in Pakistan in 2011. To date, a total of 439 people have reportedly been killed in such strikes. Most of the people killed are suspected militants. However, the so-called precision weapons do sometimes mistakenly kill innocent people, causing a wide-spread anti- American sentiment among the local people. Pakistani government, though against such strikes by the United States on its territory, has no choice but to keep a closed eye on it. It also seeks the drone technology from the U.S., but such demands raised repeatedly by the Pakistani top leaders have been turned down by the U.S. side.