8 killed in US drone strike in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - At least eight people were killed and two others injured when US drones pounded a hideout of suspected militants in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Wednesday morning, local media reported.

Waqt TV said that the pilotless aircraft fired two missiles at a compound located in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, a restive tribal area at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Identities of the killed militants have not been determined yet, but some local media reports said that the compound belonged to foreign militants.

The drones kept on hovering a few minutes before and after the strike in the area where a large number of people including women and children reside.

Wednesday morning's strike was the 19th of its kind in tribal areas of Pakistan since the beginning of this year. To date over 136 people have been killed and several others injured in such strikes in the area.

The strike came at the time when the Pakistani army is launching a major armed offensive in North Waziristan Agency in a bid to hunt down local and foreign militants there.

According to Inter Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of the country's army, the operation "Zarb-e-Azb," which was launched on June 15, has so far claimed lives of over 1,200 militants.