US drone strike kills three militants in Pakistan

A US drone killed three suspected militants in north-western Pakistan on Wednesday, the first such airstrike in nearly five months, officials said.

The unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a suspected hideout and a car used by militants in Khyber tribal district near the Afghan border, a local administration official said.

It was not immediately known which group was targeted but Pakistani Taliban frequently use the route to travel across the porous border.

The last drone attack in the country was on December 26. Strikes were halted since then apparently to facilitate the government’s peace talks with Islamist militants.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year announced negotiations with Taliban insurgents to end a decade of fighting but the talks appear to be heading nowhere.

A security official said Wednesday’s strike might be a signal that the government was fed up with the lack of progress.