(MENAFN- Arab News) PESHAWAR/BANNU: A US drone fired several missiles at a sprawling compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Saturday killing eleven militants two Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The officials said the strike happened in Datta Khel a town in North Waziristan where the Pakistani military has been carrying out a major offensive against militants since last month. They said most of the slain men were members of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan an umbrella group encompassing militant organizations across the tribal areas.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to media.

Drone strikes in Pakistan resumed in June after a hiatus of six months during which the Pakistani government pursued peace talks with the Taleban. Pakistan announced an anti-Taleban offensive in North Waziristan within days of the resumption.

The Pakistani military insists the offensive is aimed at all militant groups breaking a long tradition of tolerating those that did not target the Pakistani state.

However no one has been reported killed from the Haqqani network an insurgent group that US officials say is close to Pakistani intelligence and responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan.

TTP has called for overthrowing the Pakistani government in order to implement its hard-line version of Islamic law and end cooperation with the Americans in Afghanistan.

For several years now Washington had pushed Pakistan to take action against militant groups operating in North Waziristan.

After assuming office a year ago Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to resolve the issue through negotiations with the militants and urged the US to refrain from drone strikes during the peace process.

But negotiations collapsed after militants attacked the country's biggest airport in the port city of Karachi on June 8 prompting the government to order military action in North Waziristan.

The start of the Pakistani offensive saw the renewal of the US drone program after a roughly six-month pause.

US drone strikes are a serious source of tension between Washington and Islamabad. The Pakistani government denounces the strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Saturday's strike was the second this week. On Wednesday a US drone killed 15 militants also in North Waziristan.

The military launched the offensive in the region on June 15 as over 800000 people fled to other towns and cities for safety. It says so far it has killed nearly 500 militants and lost 26 soldiers.

The US has long urged Pakistan to crack down on the Taleban stronghold in remote mountainous North Waziristan. The Taleban use the region to prepare bombs hold kidnap victims stage public executions and as a launching pad for attacks on Afghan and NATO troops across the border.

The military ordered the entire civilian population of North Waziristan to leave before launching the ground offensive but residents said most of the militants also moved out.

Many have likely gone into hiding in Afghanistan or elsewhere in Pakistan including thickly forested valleys further south.