MIRAMSHAH, Sept 14 At least 16 suspected militants were killed in two strikes by US drones in North Waziristan on Tuesday.

In the first attack, sources said, missiles hit a hideout of militants in Shawal area in the morning, killing 12 insurgents and injuring four.

Officials in Peshawar said all those killed in the attack were foreigners, but their nationalities could not be ascertained.

In the evening, another four militants were killed in a drone attack in Qutabkhel village, near Miramshah.

Sources said the drone fired two missiles on a car, killing its four occupants.

Agencies add “Eleven militants were killed in today's drone attack,” a senior Pakistani security official in the area said.

He described the area as a stronghold of Arab militants and said there were reports that foreigners — a term for Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan — were among the dead but said the nationalities of the dead had not been confirmed.

Another security official confirmed that the remains of 11 people had been pulled out of the compound's wreckage.

“At least four militants were killed in the attack,” an official said about the second attack, adding that the identities of the militants were not immediately known.

A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 64 militants in 11 strikes since September 3 in the tribal belt, which Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al Qaeda and the most dangerous spot on Earth.