WANA/MIRAMSHAH: A suspected US drone fired missiles into a hideout in Serwekai area of the South Waziristan tribal region on Friday, killing eight people, official sources said.

Local people said that an unmanned plane fired three missiles at the compound owned by a tribesman Mufti Noor Wali. They said that the attack was carried out at about 10am and reduced the compound to rubble.

Mufti Noor Wali is stated as being a close associate of Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud and his house had been serving as a sanctuary for militants. Official sources said that all the dead belonged to the Mehsud tribe.

US drones have increased their operations in the tribal region. Two deadly missile attacks were carried out in the Mehsud area on June 23 in which over 50 people including militants were killed.

Separately, Pakistan Air Force planes bombed several suspected hideouts in the Degan area of North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Friday.

Local people confirmed the death of seven militants in the air strike which was lasted almost 30 minutes. Five people including a shopkeeper were also wounded.

The wounded were brought to the government run hospital in Miramshah, the regional headquarters. Muhammad Naveed who suffered shrapnel injuries told Dawn at the hospital that jetfighters bombed the Manzerkhel and Degan areas heavily.

‘I was in my shop when a bomb hit a nearby compound,’ he said. Tension has been escalating in the North Waziristan after militants’ attacks on the security forces on June 28. Security forces have engaged the air force, which has been bombing suspected locations in the area.