The drones targeted a compound and vehicles parked outside the house, a senior security official said. -Photo by APP

MIRAMSHAH US drone aircraft killed at least 24 suspected militants in two attacks on Tuesday in Pakistans North Waziristan, Pakistani security officials said.

It was the fourth drone missile strike on militants since a failed bid to set off a car bomb in New Yorks Times Square on May 1.

The United States is convinced Pakistani Taliban militants allied with al Qaeda and operating out of northwestern border regions were behind the attempted New York bombing.

In the first of Tuesdays two drone attacks, more than 12 missiles were fired in Dattakhel village, about 30 km west of Miramshah, North Waziristan.

“Three missiles hit a vehicle and three militants sitting in it were killed,” said an intelligence agency official in the region, who declined to be identified.

The drones then fired a barrage of missiles at a nearby militant compound, killing at least 11 more, according to a second security official.

There was no word on the identity of any of the militants killed but the attack was in an area where members of an Afghan Taliban faction led by a commander known as Gul Bahadur operate. Foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda are known to be in the area.

The second attack was on a militant camp on the border with Afghanistan, some distance from the first strike. Two missiles killed at least 10 militants, intelligence officials and residents said. Taliban officials were not available for comment.—Reuters