At least 12 people have been killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on the border with Afghanistan, intelligence sources say.

The attack on what was a suspected Taliban hideout took place just before midnight on Thursday in Dandy Darpa Khel village, near the town of Mir Ali.

"According to the information we have received from our local sources, 12 people died in the strike while several were injured," the intelligence official said.

"Almost all of those killed were Taliban."

Targeted attack

Another intelligence official said the target was a building in which a group led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, an Afghan Taliban commander whose men have previously conducted cross-border attacks on US-led troops in Afghanistan.

US drone attacks have intensified along the Afghan-Pakistan border in recent months, killing dozens of al-Qaeda-linked and Taliban leaders and fighters.

A similar attack killed Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban, in early August.

Earlier this month, Najmiddin Jalolov, a leader of an Uzbek armed group that is closely associated with al-Qaeda, died in a missile attack, also near Mir Ali.

Pakistan has officially condemned US drone attacks, saying they violate the country's sovereignty.

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