MIRANSHAH: A US drone attack on a compound in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal area killed six people on Sunday, security officials said.

The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on the compound in Shawal district, 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, near the Afghan border, they said.

“Two missiles targeted the compound, killing six people,” a security official told AFP.

“The strike destroyed the house and triggered a fire,” another official said.

“It was difficult to identify the bodies immediately as some of them were charred,” he said.

A similar attack in the region on Tuesday killed five militants.

There has been a dramatic increase in US drone strikes in Pakistan since May when a NATO summit in Chicago could not strike a deal to end a six-month blockade on NATO supplies crossing into Afghanistan.