A US drone aircraft fired two missiles into an al Qaeda and Taliban hideout in North Waziristan on Sunday, killing eight militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The identity of the militants killed in the Lowari Mandi area of the North Waziristan tribal region was not known.
The United States has stepped up attempts to kill leading militants in North Waziristan since a suicide bombing at a fortified US base across the border in the Afghan province of Khost killed seven CIA employees last December. "Fire is still raging in the targeted compound," resident Abdul Akbar said by telephone.