A US drone missile strike on Thursday killed at least 41 people tribal region, Pakistani intelligence officials said.There were conflicting accounts about the target of the attack and those killed in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan. The death toll was one of the highest in a drone missile strike.
An official said the drone attacked a vehicle in the area that was passing by a house where local tribesmen were holding a meeting, killing them. A tribesman in the area supported his account.
"It wasn't a militant gathering, but a meeting of tribal elders from Ismail Khan village to sort out some differences over a business deal," tribesman Zia-ur-Rehman said.
"One of Bahadur's commanders, Sharabat Khan, was also present at the meeting as he is also a local elder, but they were discussing business."
There were conflicting reports about whether Khan had been killed in the attack. It was not immediately known if those in the vehicle were also hit. Two missiles hit Dattakhel town, some 40 kilometres west of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. “A US drone fired two missiles and destroyed a house,” a senior security official in Peshawar city told on Thursday
