PESHAWAR, Pakistan— Missiles presumably fired by U.S. drones on Monday incinerated three trucks thought to be ferrying fighters and weapons from Pakistan's tribal borderlands to Afghanistan. The strikes killed 25 suspected militants and injured four others, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.
A campaign of U.S. drone strikes against militants in the tribal areas dramatically accelerated this year, targeting members of groups including the Taliban, an offshoot known as the Haqqani network and al-Qaida.
Insurgent sanctuaries inside Pakistan are considered a tremendous complicating factor for Western forces in Afghanistan. NATO ground troops are not allowed to operate in Pakistan, though a few incursions have taken place. Drones have become a key means of hunting militants who attack Western soldiers, then take shelter on the Pakistani side of the frontier.
The first of the strikes took place at midmorning in the Mir Ali district of the North Waziristan tribal area, the officials said. Two trucks were hit.
Hours later, a separate strike targeted another vehicle in the Mir Ali district. That attack killed four people, the officials said.
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