Islamabad, August 7 (RHC)-- At least five people have been killed in an attack by a U.S. assassination drone in an area in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.

Speaking to AFP on Thursday, a senior Pakistani security official claimed that at least five militants were killed in the drone attack in the town of Datta Khel in the North Waziristan tribal region.

The attack reportedly hit a compound of Taliban militants, who are currently operating across the troubled region. Another Pakistani security official in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar confirmed the U.S. drone attack and the number of the casualties.

Washington regularly uses drones for airstrikes and spying missions in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border. While senior U.S. officials claim the targets of the attacks are militants, witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of the airstrikes.