A suspected US drone strike Saturday killed at least seven Islamist insurgents in Pakistan's troubled north-western tribal region bordering Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
Three Hell-fire missiles fired from the unmanned aircraft drone destroyed a militant hideout in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, where Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters launch frequent cross border attacks into Afghanistan on NATO-led international forces, dpa reported.
"Our informants in the area say that seven terrorists have been killed and two more were injured in the attack," said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A second intelligence official confirmed the incident but said five militants were killed.
"It is not clear yet whether all those killed were Pakistani Taliban or foreigners from Arabic countries and Central Asian States associated with al-Qaeda that we have here in abundance," he said.
North Waziristan is largely controlled by Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who has signed a peace deal with the government that prohibits him from carrying out attacks in Pakistan but gives him almost free hand to continue raids into Afghanistan.
The United States have pressed Pakistan for a decisive offensive in North Waziristan.
But Islamabad says it lacks the resources to expand military action when thousands of its troops are fighting the Taliban in other tribal districts and the adjoining Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, formerly known as North-West Frontier Province.
Concerned by Pakistan's reluctance, the United States have recently intensified drone strikes in North Waziristan, killing dozens of al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives.
Pakistan has publicly criticized these attacks, saying they alienate the locals. But analysts believe that officials silently support the strikes.
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