Suspected US drones fired at least two missiles into Pakistan's South Waziristan region on the Afghan border today and killed seven people, intelligence officials said.
One missile hit a vehicle in a village near Wana, the main town in the region, killing four people, while three were killed in another strike in a nearby village, two Pakistani intelligence agency officials said.
The vehicle targeted in one attack was fitted with an anti-aircraft gun and militants fired shots at the drone before the missile hit it, one of the intelligence officials said.
An intelligence official said a third missile was also fired but caused no casualties or damage.
US forces in Afghanistan, frustrated by a spreading Taliban insurgency, have stepped up strikes by pilotless drones despite Pakistani objections. South Waziristan is a known al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold.
US forces have carried out nearly 30 air strikes in Pakistan this year, according to a Reuters count, more than half since the beginning of September. The attacks have killed more than 220 people, including foreign militants, according to tallies.
The United States and Afghanistan have long pressed Pakistan to do more to eliminate the militant sanctuaries in remote ethnic Pashtun areas no government has ever controlled.
Reuters