Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed at least seven militants in North Waziristan.

Local intelligence officials said the drone fired two missiles that struck a militant compound in the mountainous Datta Khail area near the Afghan border.

They said the suspected hideout was being used by Uzbek militants linked to a pro-al-Qaida Pakistani commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar.‎

Sunday’s drone strike is the first in the new year.

Pakistan has stepped counter-militancy army operations in tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan since a militant raid against an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16 killed 150 people, almost all of them children.
…