US missile kills up to seven in Khyber Agency

US missile strike in Tirah valley an apparent expansion of US covert drone campaign in Pakistan.

PESHAWAR: A US missile strike on Thursday killed up to seven militants in the tribal district of Khyber, in an apparent expansion of a covert drone campaign, Pakistani officials said.

The drone slammed into a vehicle in the Spin Darang area of the Tirah valley in Khyber, which borders Afghanistan, the officials said.

"It was a drone attack. Seven militants travelling in the vehicle were killed in the attack," a security official in Peshawar told AFP.

Another security official said all the dead were local militants.

The valley is a stronghold of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam groups, which have been at war for at least four years.

There have also been intelligence reports of the presence of senior Taliban from Malakand and Waziristan Agencies in the area.