US drone strike kills four militants in northwestern Pakistan

Islamabad, May 23 (ANI): At least four insurgents have reportedly been killed in a US drone strike on a militant compound in northwestern Pakistan.

According to a Pakistan security official the drone fired two missiles on a house in the Tabai area near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, on Wednesday.

A local administration official and another intelligence official confirmed the early morning strike and casualties, The Express Tribune reports.

The strike was the third since Islamabad approved new guidelines on relations with Washington in March, including a call for an end to drone strikes on Pakistani territory.

According to the report, Pakistan believes the drone strikes are counter productive and undermine government efforts to separate tribes from the militants, violate Pakistan's sovereignty, kill civilians and fuel anti-US sentiment.

Waziristan is the most notorious militant stronghold in Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt.

Washington considers it the main hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda to plot attacks on the West and in Afghanistan. (ANI)