PARACHINAR, Feb 16: US drones for the first time launched an attack in the Kurram tribal region on Monday, firing missiles on suspected hideouts of militants.

According to initial reports, 25 people were killed.

According to foreign agencies, most of those killed were Taliban from Afghanistan.

Officials and local people said that three unmanned planes intruded about 80km deep into the Pakistani airspace and fired two missiles on the house of Afghan national Behram Kochi in Ahmadi Shama village, southeast of Parachinar.

The attack came two days after a similar missile strike in South Waziristan, killing 30 people, most of them foreign militants.

Sources said that Monday’s attack was carried out when a meeting was being held at the Afghan house. There were conflicting reports about casualty.

A local tribesman reported seeing 18 bodies retrieved from debris of the house which was completely destroyed. Soon after the missile attack, he said, militants had cordoned off the area and did not allow people to go near the place.

Ahmadi Shama village is in Alizai subdivision of Lower Kurram, adjacent to Thall tehsil of Hangu district.

An official of the political administration said 35 people had been killed and 40 others injured. He said that 28 people died on the spot and seven others in hospital.

Political administrator Arshad Majeed Mohmand said that three missiles had been fired at the house, but he had no information about the number of people killed.

The house was a major hub of activities in the Kurram region.

Agencies add: Security officials said at least one missile fired by a suspected drone struck the Taliban centre in Bhagan, part of a remote mountain stronghold for the hardline movement.

“Nine dead bodies were taken to Afghanistan, while the burial of 17 is under way in the area,” said a security official.