Kabul, May 9 (RHC)-- At least seven people have been killed in a U.S. assassination drone strike in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, near the country's border with Pakistan.

Provincial police chief, Abdul Habib Sayedkhili, said the drone strike on Thursday targeted the district of Khas Kunar. He claimed that the strike killed a group of militants in the area. However, Taliban militants have not yet made any comments on the incident.

Kunar is a volatile region in Afghanistan, where many Taliban-linked militants are present. On May 5th, nearly 20 people lost their lives in a similar US drone attack in Mohamand Dara district of the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Since 2004, the United States has been carrying out drone strikes in Afghanistan and several other Muslim countries, such as Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia despite international criticism. Although Washington claims it targets militants, locals and witnesses maintain that, in most cases, civilians have been the victims of the attacks over the past few years.

Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror.