US drone kills 7 militants in Pakistan

Seven militants were killed after a suspected US drone fired missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border early Tuesday morning, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike took place in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, a key hub for Taliban and al-Qaida militants, the officials said. Most of the suspected militants killed in the attack were from the Pakistani Taliban, the officials added. Insurgents linked to Afghan militant groups who were harboring them were also killed, they said. The US has conducted around 200 drone strikes in North Waziristan in recent years, mostly targeting al-Qaida militants and Afghan Taliban fighters who are battling American troops in Afghanistan. Some of the strikes have also hit the Pakistani Taliban, who are allied with Afghan groups but have focused their fighting against the Pakistani state.