MIRAMSHAH, Nov 22 A second drone attack in as many days in North Waziristan left six suspected militants dead on Monday, while 14 militants were killed and six others wounded when security forces pounded their hideouts in upper Orakzai.

The death toll from the previous day's US drone strike jumped to nine on Monday, with officials claiming in comments to a news agency that a local Taliban 'commander' and two foreign militants were among the dead.

Sources said that four missiles fired by the unmanned aircraft targeted a car and a motorcycle in Khaisur area of Mirali tehsil. Six people belonging to Bakakhel tribe were killed.

Official sources said that security forces attacked militant positions in Khadizai and Kot Kalley areas of upper Orakzai tehsil with artillery fire, destroying four hideouts.

Fourteen suspected militants were killed and six others wounded.

Three security personnel suffered injuries when a convoy was hit by a remote-controlled bomb planted by militants on a road in Ghaljo area. The injured personnel were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Tal.

The troops launched a search operation after the attack and seized arms and explosives.

AP adds Intelligence officials said the US drone attack in Khaddi village on Sunday killed six people, but raised that number to nine on Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The slain militant leader was identified as Mustafa. The officials said he was linked to Sadiq Noor, a key Taliban figure in North Waziristan.

The nationalities of the foreign fighters were unclear.

Three local tribesmen sheltering the militants were identified on Sunday as among the dead. However, officials said on Monday that there were no civilians killed, asserting that seven of the dead were under Sadiq Noor's command and two were foreign fighters.

Unmanned American drones have launched more than 100 missile strikes this year on targets in Pakistan, roughly double the number in all of 2009.

Almost all of this year's strikes have occurred in North Waziristan, an area in which the US has repeatedly requested Pakistan conduct a military offensive to neutralise the strongholds of militants threatening the war effort in Afghanistan. The government has resisted, saying its military is already stretched thin by operations being conducted elsewhere.

The US recently sought to expand the areas in which the drones can target suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, but Pakistan refused the request.