PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD (PAN): Fourteen Pakistani militants have been killed in a fresh US drone attack on their base in the South Waziristan tribal region, where Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud was eliminated along with 40 associates in a similar air strike last week, officials said on Tuesday.

A government official based in Wana, headquarters of the insurgency-plagued semi-autonomous federally administered tribal area, told Pajhwok Afghan News the CIA-operated drone targeted a Taliban centre in Laddha tehsil. The casualties happened in a house in Kani Kurram village, used by the fighters.

Government official Naumanullah, in a chat with this news agency over the telephone from Wana, said the Taliban training centre was comprehensively destroyed in the air raid. He put the toll at 10 dead and eight injured but residents claimed 14 fighters died in what they called a missile strike.

The house hit by the pilotless drone belonged to a tribal elder Umer Barqi, according to resident Masood, who said at least three missiles slammed into the Taliban centre. Fourteen dead bodies had been retrieved from the rubble so far, he added.

All the dead were local Taliban, confirmed another resident Munawar Khan. He revealed a number of houses near the militant-used compound were damaged in the US missile attack -- the second in less than a week in the restive region.

More than 400 people are said to have perished in over 40 drone hits in the region since August 2008. Despite strong protests from Islamabad, the US military continues with the attacks that Pakistan slams as counterproductive.

On Wednesday, a similar missile strike killed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud along with his second spouse and dozens of bodyguards and supporters. Mehsud was staying at the house of his father-in-law Maulvi Ikramuddin in a village in the Makeen area.

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