Blast kills 5 militants in NWA

MIRANSHAH—At least five foreign militants were killed in a house blast near Pak-Afghan border here on Thursday.
According to local sources among the five militants, three were Uzbek nationals. The blast happened when explosives the men were storing went off, but residents of the North Waziristan region said a helicopter fired rockets into the house.
“The explosives materials were dumped at the house to make improvised explosive devices,” said Syed Zaheer-ul-Islam, top administrator in North Waziristan where the army is hunting the militants and their supporters.
Three of the dead militants were Uzbeks and two were local, he said. Two men were wounded, one of them a foreigner, he said.
Residents of the area also said five people, including three foreigners, had been killed, but they said a helicopter fired rockets at the house in Haisori village.
Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan confirmed that five people had been killed in a blast but he said its cause, and the identities and nationalities of the dead, were still being determined.—Agencies