KABUL: At least six suspected militants were killed Friday in a US drone strike in the Nazyan district near Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency.
Security sources said that the drone targeted a militant compound in the Nazyan district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, on the zero line bordering Khyber Agency. The drone strike killed six suspected militants while the compound was completely destroyed.
The sources added that all the six ‘militants’ belonged to the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan.
Till 2014, Naziyan district had been serving as a safe haven for the Mullah Fazllullah led Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to security officials, militants based in the Nazyan district had planned the devastating attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which left over 140 children and teachers dead and scores injured.
Pakistani security forces also carried out ground offensives in Khyber Agency, particularly the Tirah Valley of Bara which borders Nazyan.
The forces cleared much of the Bara plain in Operation Khyber One launched in October 2014 while in a follow-on operation named Khyber-2 clearec the fierce Tirah terrain consisting of deep valleys and high mountains.