James Lee Harper Jr.-USAF—AFP
Intelligence officials claim the militants killed belonged to the Haqqani network.
A U.S. drone attack on a militant compound in North Waziristan on Saturday killed at least seven militants, security officials said.
The drone strike took place in the Shawal area of the tribal district bordering Afghanistan, where the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants. “At least seven militants were killed in a drone attack,” a senior security official told AFP.
Another security official in Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties.
Local intelligence authorities said that the militants belonged to the Haqqani network, a feared militant group which targets foreign troops across the border in Afghanistan. “An important meeting of militants was in progress at the compound when missiles launched by U.S. drones hit it,” said a local intelligence official.
North Waziristan is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan. It has been a hub for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s. The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.