A US drone strike in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Wednesday killed at least seven fighters from the militant Haqqani network, local security officials said.

A US drone fired two missiles, destroying a vehicle and a compound near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, along the Afghan border. Three other militants were wounded in the strike, the officials said.

"At least seven militants were killed in the drone strike. All of them were Haqqani's men," a Pakistani security official in Miranshah told AFP.

Another security official at Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties and added that three militants were also wounded.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks need to be defeated if the 10-year war in Afghanistan is ever to end.

The Haqqani network is considered the most dangerous enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan. It was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son, Sirajuddin, both designated "global terrorists" by Washington.

The network has been blamed for some of the deadliest anti-US attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide attack at a US base in the eastern province of Khost in 2009 that killed seven CIA operatives.

The United States does not officially confirm Predator drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the armed, unmanned aircraft in the region.

More than 21 US drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan since May 2, when US elite forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was found living near Pakistan's main military academy.

The raid humiliated the Pakistani military and prompted allegations of incompetence and complicity in sheltering bin Laden.

Drone attacks are unpopular among the Pakistani public, which is opposed to the government's alliance with Washington and sensitive to perceived violations of sovereignty.

Pakistan is seen as a key ally for the United States in its fight against Islamist militancy, but relations have soured since the US launched the raid that killed bin Laden without warning Islamabad.

US officials have long questioned Pakistani ties with extremists, including the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan, and want Islamabad to launch decisive action in North Waziristan.

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