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Pakistan officials: US drone strike in northwestern tribal area kills 5 militants

Associated Press
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Pakistani police officers carry the casket of their fellow officer killed in the gunbattle with militants, during the funeral procession in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014. A security official and a police officer were killed during a shootout with militants in Peshawar, police officer Ijaz Ahmed said. He said two militants were killed. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani police officers offer prayers for their fellow officer who was killed in gunbattle with militants, during the funeral procession in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014. A security official and a police officer were killed during a shootout with militants in Peshawar, police officer Ijaz Ahmed said. He said two militants were killed. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistani police officer stands next to an ambulance carrying bodies of militants killed by security forces in an operation Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 in Peshawar, Pakistan. The military said Pakistani security forces killed five "terrorists" on the outskirts of Peshawar, where the Pakistani Taliban carried out a school massacre earlier this week, killing 148 people, mainly children. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani security officials say a U.S. drone fired two missiles at militant hideout in a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing five Taliban fighters.

Two officials said the strike took place Saturday morning in the town of Datta Khel in North Waziristan, where Pakistani troops have been carrying out a major operation against local and foreign militants since June.

Earlier this week, the Pakistani Taliban killed 148 people, most of them children, in a school massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The officials said the slain men fought under local Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.