“The two militants were standing with their motorcycle outside a house in Dhog village when the drone fired two missiles targetting them. Both were killed on the spot,” said a tribal elder in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, sited close to where the incident took place. Pleading anonymity, he said the US drone attack took place after a long time in South Waziristan inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazir and Mahsud tribes. The drones have frequently been carrying out attacks in North Waziristan and have killed dozens of people during the past few months.

Taliban sources said both the slain men were from the Commander Malang group. Malang is considered a senior leader of the Ahmadzai Wazir Taliban militants led by Mulla Nazeer.

Taliban sources said one of the men killed in the drone strike was Commander Rahmanullah, brother of Malang, while the other was said to be from Punjab province.