The attack on Tuesday was in North Waziristan, an al-Qa’ida and Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border that has been pounded by US strikes, Pakistani intelligence officials said yesterday. Three of the dead were Arab fighters.

The late-night missile launch broke the longest pause between strikes since the drone programme began in earnest in 2009.

American officials say there had been no promise by Washington to avoid drone operations since the deadly air strikes along the Afghan border on 26 November, but that the lull was part of efforts to reduce tensions with Pakistan, seen by many US officials as key to a negotiated peace in Afghanistan.

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