Suspected U.S. unmanned aircraft launched two missiles at a vehicle in the Pakistani tribal region along in the Afghan border Friday, killing three people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The attack was in the village of the Machi Khel, near Mir Ali in the North Waziristan, two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk with the press.
The officials said the three killed have not yet been identified, but the village is known to house a mix of militants from the Afghan Taliban and local Pakistani insurgent groups.
The U.S. has sharply escalated its use of unmanned drone missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan's border region in the last two months.
The U.S. rarely acknowledges the covert missile program, but officials have said privately the attacks have killed several senior Taliban and al-Qaida commanders. Pakistan officially opposes the program but is believed to secretly support it.
The U.S. carried out 21 such strikes in September, nearly double the previous monthly record, and has already launched 16 this month including those Friday, according to an Associated Press count.
Elsewhere in the Pakistan, gunmen ambushed a truck early Friday that was returning home after delivering NATO supplies in Afghanistan, killing two people.
Local official Iqbal Khan said the truck was attacked near Jamrud in the Khyber tribal region. The driver and his assistant were killed, and the unidentified gunmen then torched the truck.
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