The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on the compound in Datta Khel village, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of NWA tribal district, near the Afghan border, they said.

"The US drone fired two missiles. At least nine militants have been killed and three injured,” a senior security official based in Peshawar told AFP.

Two security officials in Miranshah confirmed the strike.

Datta Khel is considered a stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander who is accused of sending fighters across the border to fight NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A similar attack in the region on Sunday killed six militants. AFP