Pakistani security officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has
killed at least five people in a tribal region near the Afghan border.
Pakistani authorities say the strike destroyed a house (in Machi Khel village) Monday in North Waziristan. Security officials say most, if not all, of the casualties were Taliban militants.
Local residents say tribesmen have cordoned off the area and are not allowing others to enter.
Residents also say they saw what appeared to be planes flying above the area before the missile strike.
U.S. officials rarely discuss missile strikes from unmanned aircraft (known as drones) in northwest Pakistan, which Pakistan has publicly criticized as counterproductive and a violation of its sovereignty.
On Sunday, Pakistan's military said it killed 36 suspected militants in two separate operations in the country's northwest.
Government forces killed three militants and captured at least nine others during a gunbattle in Swat Valley.
And Pakistan's paramilitary forces said troops killed 33 insurgents in
Khyber tribal region, as part of an operation targeting the
Taliban-affiliated group Lashkar-e-Islam.
The offensive was launched last week after a suicide bombing at a
border checkpoint killed at least 21 people, most of them police.