A US drone attack on a militant compound in Shawal area on Saturday killed at least seven militants, security officials said. The drone strike took place in the Shawal area of lawless North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan. "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 US drones hit it," a local intelligence official told AFP. North Waziristan is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan.