WANA/MIRAMSHAH, Oct 27: At least 10 people, including a top aide and three relatives of Taliban commander Mulla Nazeer, were killed when US drones attacked a truck in South Waziristan and a residential compound in North Waziristan on Thursday.

The pick-up truck was hit on Azam Warsak Road, about 20km west of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. Mulla Nazeer’s younger brother Omar Hazrat, cousin Meraj, another relative Ashfaq and top aide in Wana Khan Mohammad alias Satay were killed.

Militants of the Mulla Nazeer group encircled the area soon after the attack and took the bodies away.

It is learnt that Satay commanded Chechen and Uzbek militants from 2003 to 2007 and later joined the Mullah Nazeer group and played an important role in finalising a peace agreement between militants and the government in 2007. He was also a member of the 120-man peace committee set up under the agreement.

In the evening, six tribesmen were killed when another US drone fired four missiles at the residential compound in the village of Khesokhel, 40km east of Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan.

Residents said that a number of drones hovered over the area for some time after the attack.

Sailab Mahsud adds from Laddah: Two Frontier Corps personnel were killed and three others injured when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Gurgurai-Tangi area of Tiarza tehsil in South Waziristan.

The FC personnel were reported to be going from Shakai to Sarwekai.

Meanwhile, security forces clashed with militants in the Laghar Sar area of Laddah tehsil.

According to sources, helicopter gunships shelled suspected hideouts of militants in the area. No loss of life or property was reported.