MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- At least five more people were killed on Monday after the latest U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's volatile tribal region, officials said on Tuesday.
U.S. drones fired two missiles targeting a vehicle in the Norak area of Miranshah, located in Pakistan's North Waziristan, local security officials said. The vehicle was completely destroyed, and reports said five people were killed during the strikes.
It was not immediately clear who the victims are and whether they were civilians or suspected militants.
On Friday, a U.S. drone launched two missile strikes at a residential house which was suspected to be a militant hideout in the Tehsil Bermal area of South Waziristan. Four people were killed and two others were injured.
And last Tuesday, another four people were killed during U.S. drone strikes in Miranshah, the main town in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. Earlier in the month, on August 1 and 2, unmanned aircraft killed an additional four people in South Waziristan, and then another four in North Waziristan the following day.
In the first seven months of the year, 51 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed at least 443 people, according to a report by Conflict Monitoring Center. The report showed that the two deadliest months were June and July, when 117 and 73 people were killed respectively. One of the deadliest attacks was carried out on July 11 and 12, when four air strikes killed 63 people, the report said.
Controversy has surrounded the drone strikes as local residents and officials have blamed them for killing innocent civilians and motivating young men to join the Taliban. Details about the alleged militants are usually not provided, and the U.S. government does not comment on the strikes.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in its annual report that the U.S. drone strikes were responsible for 957 extra-legal killings in 2010. Since August 2008, there have been over 250 drone attacks which have reportedly killed more than 1,500 people in North and South Waziristan alone.
Pakistan's Afghan border, which the United States considers to be the most dangerous place on Earth, is known to be a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, considered one of the top terrorist organizations and threats to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.