MIRAMSHAH, May 24: A US drone attacked a suspected militant hideout and a mosque in the Mirali Tehsil of North Waziristan on Thursday and, according to sources, killed eight people.

This was the second drone strike in the area in 24 hours. Four people were killed in a missile attack on a compound on Wednesday.

They said five people had been killed in the attack on a house and three in the strike on the mosque. Witnesses said that residents retrieved bodies from the debris.

Names and nationalities of the deceased could not be ascertained.

Agencies add: “The drone fired two missiles on a house in Hassokhel town,” 25 kilometres east of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. “At least eight militants have died,” a senior military official said in Peshawar.

Two other officials confirmed that the death toll had risen from five to eight.

Residents and local officials said the strike damaged a nearby mosque where three worshippers believed to be Central Asians were fatally wounded. “They were seriously wounded and died later in the hospital,” a security official said.

A neighbour, Mohammad Rafiq, said the attack triggered a fire at the house where militants were exercising in the courtyard.