Drones strike kills 17

MIRANSHAH (Agencies): US drones fired a salvo of missiles into a compound in North Waziristan on Friday, killing 17 suspected militants, local security officials said.”A compound and a vehicle were targeted by US drones in Vatoi village of the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan killing 17 militants,” a senior Pakistani security official said on condition of anonymity.A drone had fired rockets on a hotel and vehicles in the Datakhel area of North Waziristan. Official sources confirmed that a hotel and vehicle were targeted in the drone strike, while local sources said that six of the rockets had been fired at a religious seminary.Datta Khel lies 35 kilometres west of here and about 450 kilometres by road from Abbottabad where bin Laden was found and killed.”Eight missiles were fired on the targets located close to each other,” he said, adding that four other suspected militants were wounded.The attack came just four days after US commandos shot dead Osama bin Laden.The area has been targeted by several drone strikes and is a stronghold of militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar, considered close to the a-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network with whom US officials have accused Pakistani spies of ties.