Suspected US drone strike kills 9 in Afghanistan—officials

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan—Two intelligence officials in Pakistan say a suspected U.S. drone strike just across the border in Afghanistan has killed at least nine militants.

The officials say Tuesday’s strike in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province targeted militants with the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Islam. That group recently announced it would join forces with the Pakistani Taliban to fight government forces in that country.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to discuss the strike.

Ahmad Zia Abdulazai, a spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar, said he was only aware of an airstrike Monday afternoon that killed two suspected insurgents.

U.S. officials rarely discuss their drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan as many are run by the CIA.