PESHAWAR, Dec 9: Four Punjabi Taliban were killed when missiles fired by a US drone hit a suspected hideout in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Sunday.

Sources said four missiles hit the residential compound in Tabbi Tool Khel village, near Ghulam Khan. Four bodies were recovered from the debris. Names of the deceased could not be ascertained.

The sources claimed that an Arab national was among the dead, but intelligence sources did not confirm that.

Agencies add: Military officials said senior Al Qaeda `commander’ Mohammad Ahmed Almansoor and three others were killed in the attack on a village close to Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

The drone fired missiles at a house with Almansoor inside, destroying two rooms and a car. Four drones were seen flying over the area during the attack, residents and government officials said.

Almansoor became the second militant leader to be killed in strikes by the unmanned aircraft in three days.

A similar attack on Thursday in the lawless tribal region killed senior Al Qaeda `commander’ Abu Zaid, who had replaced Abu Yahya al-Libi as one of the militant group’s most powerful figures, intelligence sources said.

Libi was killed in a US drone attack in June. Al Kuwaiti was buried in Tappi village near Mirali on Friday.