US drone attack kills four in Miranshah

MIRANSHAH: A US drone attack targetting a compound in the tribal area near the Afghan border killed four people late Tuesday, security officials said.

Two missiles hit a compound on the outer skirts of Miranshah, in the North Waziristan region, killing four, one official said.

The attack triggered a fire in the building and flames could be seen from the roof of houses in Miranshah, five kilometres away, residents reported.

The drone attack and the casualties were confirmed by two other security officials.

The strike was the first since US-Pakistan relations plunged to their lowest level after the November 26 helicopter strikes on a border checkpost killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The strike came on a day a remote-controlled bomb blast killed 35 people and wounded more than 60 others in the troubled Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan, which also used to serve as the main supply route for NATO forces operating in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing but local residents suggested it was a tribal dispute

The northwest border crossing for NATO supplies to foreign troops fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan remains closed, after the November NATO air strikes.

Pakistan rejected the results of the military coalition's investigation into the incident and said the strikes had been a deliberate act of aggression, leaving relations floundering between the US and Pakistan.(AFP)