Dawn
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14:26 May 25, 2025
Locals in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali district continued their sit-in on Sunday for the seventh day, protesting against a suspected drone strike in the district — that they say is responsible for the death of four children — vowing to launch a long march to Islamabad if their demands were not met. The suspected strike took place in Mir Ali’s Hurmuz village on May 19 during the daytime, leaving four children of the same family dead and injuring five others, including a woman. The police have held talks with tribal elders, which have so far remained inconclusive. Earlier this week, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), had clarified that security forces were “falsely implicated” in the incident and that it was carried out by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to the local elders, the sit-in near the Mir Ali cantonment area continued for the seventh day as authorities allegedly blocked all network and internet systems in the district. The local elders threatened to...