MIRANSHAH (Agencies) - Local Taliban on Saturday shot down a pilotless US drone in South Waziristan area bordering Afghanistan, officials said. Residents and a local police official said two drones were flying low over a village in the South Waziristan tribal district when one of them was hit by militant fire. "We heard the firing by Taliban and then a drone fell down," tribal police official Israr Khan told AFP. Another security official said the drone crashed in a forest near a Pakistani border post. "Apparently a drone has crashed in the nearby forest, we are searching for its wreckage," a security official told AFP. The Army spokesman said the reports of a drone crash were being investigated. "We have come to know that something has happened there, but we do not have any confirmation," major general Athar Abbas told AFP in Islamabad. "We are further investigating and trying to find out." The US military, which has been suspected of carrying out attacks by unmanned aircraft in the region, denied it had lost a drone Saturday. In Washington, Major Marie Boughen, a spokeswoman for US Central Command (Centcom), said: "As far as Centcom goes, all of our drones have been accounted for. So it's not ours, if there is one that was shot down." Lt-Col Todd Vician, a Pentagon spokesman, said he had heard of no such reports, adding that "the Taliban make specious claims all the time." Meanwhile, at least 22 militants were killed in an operation by security forces in Khyber Agency and Chhapar Khel area of Orakzai Agency on Saturday, report private TV channels. The security forces, backed by gunship helicopters and heavy artillery, attacked militants' hideouts during an operation in the area. Twenty-two militants were killed and many vehicles were destroyed in the offensive. According to sources, eight vehicles were also destroyed while many other militants were injured during the operation. Monitoring Desk adds: Seven security officials were killed in rocket attack by militants in Michini area of Mohmand Agency, reported private TV channel on Saturday.