USdrone_AFP670

PESHAWAR: Six people were reported killed in a suspected US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday, DawnNews reported. Moreover, two people were also reported to have been injured in the attack.

The drone fired four missiles that targeted a vehicle and a compound in the tribal region's Degan area.

A senior security official told AFP that several drones were flying in the area at the time of the attack.

Another security official confirmed the strike.

He said the area had been the target of US drone strikes in the past, which killed several foreign militants.

The district is a stronghold of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group, he said, adding that militants from the Haqqani network also operated in Degan.

Attacks by unmanned American aircraft are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, which says they violate its sovereignty and fan anti-US sentiment, but US officials are said to believe the attacks are too important to give up.

Washington regards Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt as the main hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.