4 children killed in suspected drone strike in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar, May 20 (PTI) At least four children of the same family were killed and five persons injured in a suspected drone strike in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, official sources said on Tuesday.

They said the incident occurred during a clash between security forces and militants in North Waziristan's Mir Ali area on Monday.

A suspected quadcopter dropped a bomb on a house in the Hurmuz village during the daytime, they said.

Four children of the same family were killed and five people injured in the explosion, which caused panic in the area, they added.

Locals staged a sit-in at Mir Ali Chowk, demanding justice and the arrest of those responsible for the suspected drone attack. Some of them carried placards inscribed with slogans against drone strikes, the Dawn newspaper reported.

According to the paper, both security forces and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are known to have been using quadcopters.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Relief Minister Haji Nek Muhammad Dawar strongly condemned the deaths.

“I have already clearly said on the floor of the KP Assembly that all types of operations and war operations should be kept away from civilian populations, so that the common people, especially innocent women and children, are not harmed,” he said in a social media post. PTI AYZ GRS ZH GRS GRS