PESHAWAR: At least six suspected militants were killed and three others wounded in a drone strike conducted in Kund Sar area of North Waziristan's Shawal tehsil on Wednesday.

Sources said that the unmanned droned targeted a compound with two missiles in North Waziristan and added that drones continued to fly above the area after the attack. The identities of the militants could not be ascertained.

Shawal valley lies on the border of Pakistan's North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areaa.

Pakistani officials and the military in the area neither confirm nor deny the drones attack but the foreign office usually terms the strikes against sovereignty of the country.

The latest drone strike comes two days after Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazllulah narrowly escaped a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province near the Pak-Afghan border area.

North Waziristan is among Pakistan’s seven tribal districts near the Afghan border which are rife with homegrown insurgents and are alleged to be strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, among others.

Pakistan's military in mid-June had launched an all-out operation, named 'Zarb-i-Azb', against Taliban militants in the region which is still under way.

Drone attacks are widely unpopular across Pakistan and according to survey conducted in June this year, 66 per cent of the country's citizens oppose these strikes.

‘Violation of sovereignty’

In a statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, the government strongly condemned the fresh US drone attack on its territory, calling it violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“These drone strikes are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and should be stopped,” FO spokesperson Tasneem Aslam was quoted as saying in the statement.

Urging the United States to immediately stop the attacks carried out through unmanned aircraft, the FO said that these strikes have a negative impact on the government’s efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.

The foreign office said that with the ongoing military offensives in tribal areas against local and foreign militants, these drone strikes were pointless.