US missile strike in North Waziristan - File Photo

MIRAMSHAH: US missiles struck a militant training camp in Pakistan's tribal district of North Waziristan on Wednesday, killing 20 fighters close to the Afghan border, security officials said.

The camp in the Shawal area was run by fighters loyal to Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, whose loyalists attack in Afghanistan, and was targeted by five US missiles at around 12.00pm, the Pakistani officials said.

“The death toll is 20. It is likely to go up,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Foreign and militants from Pakistan's central Punjab province were thought to be among the dead, he added.

Local officials in Miramshah, the main town of North Waziristan, also confirmed the attack and the death toll.

Local residents described the camp as a major training centre on the top of a hill surrounded by trees and ice cold natural springs.

The al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network and foreign militant networks are also known to operate in the remote mountains of Shawal, enveloped in thick forest.