PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A missile strike by a suspected US drone on Wednesday killed at least six militants in northwest Pakistan's tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said.
The strike took place in Kanni Garam village of restive South Waziristan tribal district.
"Six people were killed after a missile fired from a spy plane hit a vehicle," a security official told AFP.
A local administration official and intelligence officials confirmed the missile strike.
"Those who had been killed in the strike are mostly Taliban militants," the security official said.
"A nearby house was also damaged in the missile strike," another security official said.
Earlier an official said that according to initial reports a house was hit in the missile strike.
Local resident Israr Jan said that he saw a missile hit a vehicle parked outside a house.
"We were standing at some distance and saw a vehicle being hit by a missile fired from a spy plane," Jan said.
Semi-autonomous South Waziristan is a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, who recently threatened to avenge missile strikes with attacks across the country and in the United States.
Earlier this month six suspected militants were killed in two similar strikes in the area.
The missile attacks follow US President Barack Obama's unveiling of a strategy to defeat extremists in South Asia that puts Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda.
However, Pakistan's government is opposed to the attacks by unmanned aircraft, which it says violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among Pakistanis.
Around 370 people, including suspected militants, have died in around 39 such attacks since August 2008.
Pakistan has paid dearly for its alliance with the US in its "war on terror," with militant attacks killing more than 1,700 people since July 2007.
The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operating in neighbouring Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy drones in the region.
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