At least eight people were killed and four others injured in two separate U.S. drone strikes launched in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in an area of North Waziristan tribal region.
According to the media reports, the first strike took place shortly after 12:00 a.m. when U.S. drones reportedly fired eight missiles at a house suspected to be a militant hideout in Haider Khel village in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.
At least five people were killed and four others injured in the strike and an important Taliban leader is believed to be living inside the house.
The identities of the victims are not immediately known.
The house was completely leveled to ground and caught fire after the strike, said eyewitnesses, adding that the death toll could further rise as some people were feared buried under the debris of the destroyed house.
Shortly after the first strike, media reports said that U.S. drones launched another strike at a house in the Eissu Khel village in the same area, which killed at least three people.
Tuesday morning's strike is the fifth of its kind launched by U. S. drones in Pakistan in 2013. So far at least 38 people have been killed in such strikes.