MIRAMSHAH, Sept 8: Fourteen suspected militants and four children were killed when US drones carried out three attacks in North Waziristan on Wednesday.

Missiles targeted a compound, a car and a house in parts of North Waziristan near the Afghan border, according to reports.

The compound located in Dendy Derpakhel near Miramshah was owned by a militant commander having link with the Haqqani network.

Two missiles were fired into the compound. Six militants belonging to Punjab were killed, sources told Dawn in Peshawar. A car parked in the compound was also destroyed.

Four children died in a house adjacent to the compound due to the impact of the blasts, local people said. The children were relatives of a tribesman, Din Muhammad.

The second attack was reported in Degan area where missiles hit a car killing four foreigners. Their names could not be ascertained.

Late on Wednesday night, a house in Dendy Derpakhel was attacked with three missiles. Four suspected militants were killed.

AFP adds: US forces have been waging a drone war against Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked commanders in the tribal belt.

More than 1,040 people have been killed in 122 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants. However, the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the country.

Officials in Washington say the drone strikes are a vital tool needed to protect the 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, and have killed a number of high-value targets, including Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

Al Qaeda announced in June that its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu Al Yazid had been killed in what security officials said appeared to be a drone strike in North Waziristan.