ISLAMABAD, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani army said on Thursday that the U.S. drone strike on Wednesday targeted an individual, who had taken shelter in an Afghan refugee camp in the country's Kurram tribal region.
Reports earlier suggested that the drone strike had killed two people, who allegedly belonged to the Haqqani Network, a group of Afghan militants blamed for many deadly attacks in Afghanistan.
The military said the drone strike targeted an individual who had "morphed into Afghan refugees and not any organized terrorists sanctuary has been eliminated."
"This validates Pakistan's stance that left over terrorists easily morph into Afghan refugee camps or complexes," a statement from the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Giving details of the refugee camps, the army said that out of the total 54 Afghan refugee camps or complexes in Pakistan, 43 are located in northwestern Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province with overlap in the tribal regions.
"Thus their (Afghan refugees') early and dignified return to Afghanistan is essential. Pakistan's brotherly hospitality to peaceful Afghan refugees must not be exploited by terrorists," the army said.
The UN refugee agency said Pakistan still hosts nearly 2.4 million refugees, almost half un-registered.
