LADHA, April 17: Nine militants, five of them foreigners, were killed in a US drone attack in Bobar Samal area of South Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday.

According to sources, drones fired two missiles on a militant compound in Sara Rogha, destroying it and killing all the people inside.

Khwaja Mohammad alias Madani, a close aide to Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, was in charge of the militant compound but he was not there when the attack took place, the source said.

Intelligence sources said that five foreign militants and four Mehsud Taliban of Hakimullah’s group had been killed.

However, Taliban sources said only four Mehsud fighters had died . They said three militants had been injured.

Meanwhile, helicopter gunships pounded hideouts in Sanzala area, near Bobar, early in the morning.