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US denies hitting Af refugee camp in Pak drone strike

Islamabad: Pakistan's claim that the US hit an Afghan refugee camp in a drone strike is "false", a US spokesman said on Thursday, as tensions between the uneasy allies ratchet higher over Islamabad's alleged support for militants.
The drone strike, which took place well inside Pakistani territory on Wednesday, killed a mid-level commander from the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, local officials and a source close to the Islamist group have said.
Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned the "unilateral action" late Wednesday, saying it had targeted an Afghan refugee camp, but made no mention of casualties.
"The claim in (a foreign ministry) statement on Wednesday that US forces struck an Afghan refugee camp in Kurram Agency on Wednesday is false," a spokesman for the US embassy in Islamabad said.
Local officials have said that the pre-dawn strike took place more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Afghan border, in the village of Mamuzai in Kurram district in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region, where militants once operated with impunity.
The foreign ministry did not elaborate on the nature of the "refugee camp". A spokesman for the UN refugee agency has said there are no refugee camps in the tribal areas, and no sign of a camp can be seen in pictures from the site.
Local officials also said they were not aware of a refugee camp in the area.
Pakistani officials doubled down on the claim during a regular foreign office briefing Thursday, with a spokesman insisting there are two camps in the area, and that the drone hit one of them.
"Pakistan condemned the drone strike in Kurram Agency carried out by the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) on Wednesday, which targeted an Afghan refugee camp," the spokesman said.
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