US Drone attack in Pakistan; militants attack UN worker

US Drone attack in Pakistan; militants attack UN workerIn Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region today, a suspected US drone fired a missile at a house in Gariwam village, killing at least four. A local security official told Agence France Press that those killed worked for militant leader Baitullah Mehsud.

The United States has continued the controversial attacks in an attempt to kill Taliban and al Qaeda militants, but Pakistani government officials publicly condemn the strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty, while tribal people have protested the civilian deaths that often accompany the bombings.

Also today, in the Khyber region, militants blew up NATO tanks in both Jamrud and Landikotal. The attacks killed at least one civilian.
The violence continues during the first phase of the government program to return displaced people to their homes. Many civilians are returning reluctantly to places like Buner and Swat, where fighting between the military and militants continues.

Thursday, a UN humanitarian was shot dead by armed men at an internally displaced persons camp outside of Peshawar.  Zelle Usman was a Pakistani citizen and one of the most senior national staff for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.  Ron Redmond is a U-N Refugee Agency spokesperson

“In an address at the UN Security Council the high commissioner noted that the humanitarian personnel work in the most dangerous places in the world, they risk their own lives in an effort to help vulnerable populations to protect theirs, and ensuring staff security must be a top priority for every organization in the UN system as a whole, yet the deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers has increased”

This is the third killing of a UN humanitarian worker in Pakistan this year. Some three million people have been displaced from the violence, and humanitarian workers say it's one of the largest migrations since the Rwandan genocide.