A US drone fired three missiles into a militant compound in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing seven militants, security officials said.
The strike took place at 9:00 pm (1600 GMT) in Marsikhel area, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, which is known as a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
The nationalities of the seven dead were not immediately clear, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another security official confirmed the strike and the death toll and said: "We don't know yet if any high-value target was present in the area at the time of attack."
The strike came a day after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and 16 wounded when militants armed with guns and rocket launchers ambushed their convoy, which was on a routine mission from Miranshah to Dattakhel town.
US forces have been waging a covert drone war against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, where militants have carved out havens in mountainous areas outside direct government control.
US officials say drone strikes are a vital weapon in the war to defeat Al-Qaeda and reverse the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, where Washington is leading a major troop surge.
Critics say the hi-tech strikes risk radicalising local populations, particularly if civilians are killed.
More than 870 people have been killed in nearly 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.
North Waziristan's prominence in the covert drone war has grown since a Jordanian Al-Qaeda double agent blew himself up killing seven CIA employees in a neighbouring Afghan province in December.
Islamist militants in Pakistan's tribal belt are believed to be supporting the nearly nine-year insurgency in Afghanistan.
North Waziristan is a fortress of Al-Qaeda, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, and the affiliated Haqqani network, set up by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and now effectively run by his ambitious son Sirajuddin.
Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have been blamed for a wave of suicide and bomb attacks that have killed nearly 3,300 people across Pakistan since 2007.
Pakistan claims to have made big gains against home grown Taliban over the past year following campaigns in the northwestern district of Swat and South Waziristan, but has yet to launch a major campaign in North Waziristan.
Pakistan launched a punishing assault against Taliban militants in Orakzai, another tribal district, last month amid increased US pressure for more operations against rebels.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
