At least six suspected militants have been killed in a US drone strike in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan.
The strike hit the border town of Datta Khel, thought to be on the escape route for militants fleeing a government offensive in the region.
Pakistan launched an operation against militants sheltering in tribal areas close to the Afghan border last month.
The US resumed drone strikes in June after a six-month lull.
This would be the third drone strike since they renewed their attacks, the first of which took place on 12 June.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that members of the Pakistani Taliban as well as militants affiliated to the commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur's group have a presence in Datta Khel.
Officials say most of those killed were foreign fighters trying to escape the Pakistani military's offensive.
On Wednesday, the army official leading troops in North Waziristan acknowledged that much of the militant leadership had left the area before the start of the operation.
"It will be wrong on my part to say that some of them did not escape," Maj Gen Zaffar Khan said.
"They could smell the operation was about to begin. The talks failed, the build-up for the operation had already begun and they could see that, they could sense and smell and therefore the leadership was not here. The leadership tried to abandon the place."
But Maj Gen Khan insisted that the army was determined not let the region become a militant sanctuary again, the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani in Islamabad reports.
Washington has for years used unmanned drones to carry out strikes on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan.
Pakistan has always denied reports that US drone strikes on its territory take place with the government's approval.
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