Pakistan: Deadly 'US drone strike'

29 May 2013 Last updated at 06:54 GMT At least four people were killed when a US drone fired two missiles in the volatile Pakistani region of North Waziristan, security officials said. They said the missiles hit a house close to the town of Miranshah. The strike comes a week after President Barack Obama issued new guidelines for tighter scrutiny of the drone programme and stricter targeting rules. US drone strikes are a major point of contention in Pakistan, and represented a key issue in its recent elections. A Pakistani foreign ministry official condemned the strike as a breach of sovereignty, Reuters news agency repor Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recorded 368 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 Vast majority carried out under Barack Obama Most strikes in Pakistan have taken place in the tribal area of North Waziristan Obama's selective disclosure "Any drone strike is against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan and we condemn it," the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. It was unclear whether those killed were the intended targets. Four people were also reported to have been wounded. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that the strike is also the first since Pakistan's 11 May elections which have brought to the fore groups that feed on anti-Americanism and oppose such attacks. Our correspondent says it comes on the day that the newly-elected parliament of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - which adjoins North Waziristan - holds its first meeting. The province is now being ruled by former cricketer Imran Khan's PTI party, which has in recent months repeatedly spoken out against drone attacks, as has Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif. Our correspondent say the strike is seen as an early message from Washington that legitimate targets in Pakistan's tribal regions will continue to be targeted by drones unless Pakistanis themselves are able to neutralise those targets or dismantle militant sanctuaries in them. Last Friday President Obama defended the use of drones as a "just war" of self-defence against militants and a campaign that had made America safer. He said there must be "near certainty" that no civilians would die in such strikes. Drone attacks should only be used amid a "continuing, imminent threat" to the US where no other options are available, the guidelines say. The Afghan-Pakistan border region is home to a variety of local and Afghan militant groups including fighters linked to al-Qaeda. Pakistan's security forces have long been accused by the US on not doing enough to fight the Taliban in the mountains of North Waziristan. More recently, US forces have used drone strikes in the region as part of their campaign against the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.