Suspected US drone strike kills 'militants' in Pakistan

Missiles fired by a suspected US drone aircraft have killed at least seven fighters in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border, local residents said.

In the early hours of Friday, drones fired two missiles on a compound in the village of Dargah Mandi in North Waziristan, destroying the house and killing seven people.

Pakistani security officials said all those who were killed were "militants".

The area where the attack took place is known as a stronghold for the Haqqani network, which regularly attacks US forces in Afghanistan from its mountain hideouts in Pakistan. 

US drones have fired missiles into troubled and inaccessible border areas such as North Waziristan, which houses compounds for rebel groups aligned with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, since 2004. 

But the policy has driven a wedge between Washington and the Pakistan government, which has been angered by reports of civilian casualties and what it sees as a violation of its sovereignty. 

US drone strikes in Pakistan have fallen significantly over the past two and a half years, totalling 20 this year, according to figures from the non-profit organization, the New America Foundation.

It compares to 48 in all of 2012 and 73 in 2011. 

Independent observers and journalists have almost no access to the areas where most of the strikes occur, making it hard to assess the impact of the attacks on fighters and civilians.

Al Jazeera and wire services