At least 12 suspected militants were allegedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan's Paktia province on Friday.
Security sources told DawnNews that a suspected United States (US) drone fired six missiles, killing 12 'militants' and wounded several others.
Earlier this week, chief of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan offshoot, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Umar Khalid Khorasani, was killed in a strike along with nine of his associates.
The recent unprecedented increase drone strikes in the Pak-Afghan border region appears to be reflective of a change in policy in Washington, with at least 70 strikes ─ both drone and ground ─ conducted in Afghanistan in the past three weeks, and over 30 people killed in strikes near the border in the last few days.
The Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and ISPR, the army's media wing, had [both claimed that the strikes had been carried out in Afghan territory and Pakistan's airspace had not been violated][2], amid speculation that the strikes had targeted militants inside Pakistani territory.
The drone strikes near the Pak-Afghan border have increased after the Pakistan Army said that it had [recovered "safe and sound" a family of foreign hostages][3] from the custody of a terrorist outfit after it received and acted on intelligence shared by the United States.
The army had hailed the recovery of the abductees as an example of what can be expected from close cooperation between the US and Pakistan in targeting militant outfits.
It is as yet unclear what impact, if any, the drone strikes will have on the push to revive amicable relations with the US.
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International