Drones batter militants in Pak: Report

A beefed-up campaign of American drone strikes over the last three months has battered Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal area of North Waziristan, says a report in the New York Times.

According to a mid-ranking militant and supporters of the government, the strikes have cast a pall of fear over an area, forcing militants to abandon satellite phones and large gatherings in favor of communicating by courier and moving stealthily in small groups.

The US drones, fly overhead sometimes four at a time, emitting a beelike hum virtually 24 hours a day, observing and tracking targets, then unleashing missiles on their quarry, the report said.

The strikes have sharpened tensions between the local tribesmen and militants, who have dumped bodies with signs accusing the victims of being American spies in Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, they said.

In the first six weeks of this year, more than a dozen strikes killed up to 90 people suspected of being militants, according to Pakistani and American accounts, the report said.

There are now multiple strikes on some days, and in some weeks the strikes occur every other day, the people from North Waziristan said.

In public, the Pakistani government opposes the drones, citing a violation of sovereignty.

Under American pressure, however, the Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, has provided important intelligence for targets, American and Pakistani officials have said.