The compound was located by a road in Shewa district about 40 kilometres northeast of the region's main town of Miranshah.
The drone fired four missiles at the compound and two vehicles parked outside were also destroyed, an official in Miranshah told AFP.
"At least seven militants were killed and three wounded," a security official in Peshawar told AFP, raising his earlier casualty assessment.
The casualties were confirmed by two other officials in Miranshah.
The strike is the latest in a series of US operations in the region which are believed to have targeted Taliban and al Qaeda plotting attacks in Europe.
Security officials said earlier this week that a drone strike had killed five German militants.
The United States has massively ramped up its drone campaign in the northwest tribal region on the Afghan border, amid intelligence claims of a Mumbai-style terror plot to launch attacks on European cities.
The plot was reportedly caught in its early planning stages.
Pakistani authorities have reported 27 drone attacks, since September 3, which have killed more than 150 people in the region.
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