Suspected US missile strike kills eight Taliban fighters

October 1, 2009

Pakistani security officials have said that at least eight fighters were killed following a suspected US missile drone strike in the country on Wednesday.

The drones struck the region of Pakistan, the fourth missile attack in the area since the beginning of the week, after the US decided to step up its offensive against insurgents in the region.

"One missile hit the compound while the other hit a vehicle parked outside. We have confirmed reports of six dead," said an unnamed security official.

Intelligence officials reported that two missiles, fired from a US airplane, struck a compound and a vehicle, in a village about twenty kilometres east of North Waziristan's main city of Miranshah.

Three Pakistanis, three Arabs, an and a  were among the people killed by the blasts, the national intelligence agency said.

The US military has not confirmed the attacks, but it and the are the only organisations in the region to use the drones.