MIRAMSHAH, April 22: Seven civilians and 18 suspected militants were killed in a drone attack in Spinwam area of North Waziristan on Friday.According to local people, four children and three women were among those killed in the pre-dawn attack in Yazz Khula village on a compound owned by a tribesman, Gul Sharif Wazir.

official sources said that two missiles were fired at a hujra where a group of ‘armed guests’ was staying. A vehicle parked in the compound was damaged in the attack.

Two more missiles were fired at a room in the family portion, killing the women and children. Five people were injured in the attack. They were taken to a private health centre.

Agencies add: It was the first missile strike to hit North Waziristan since a diplomatic furore erupted between Pakistan and the United States over a drone attack on March 17 which killed 39 people, including civilians.

“The drones launched two successive attacks. In the first strike they fired two missiles and in the second they released three more,” a military official in the area said.

The attack came as Pakistani and US officials wrangle over their counter-terrorism efforts on the border and the unpopular US missile campaign.