PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Seven people were killed and six others injured in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region on Friday evening, Pakistani security officials said.

The officials and tribal sources said the drone fired six missiles and pounded two separate mud-built houses in the Babar area of the Ladha subdivision in the South Waziristan tribal region.

Security officials said the area was mostly controlled by the militants and it was believed those killed and injured were militants.

There was no immediate information about the identity of the victims, but Pakistani security officials said those killed were tribal militants affiliated with militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Hakimullah Mahsud.

Tribal sources said the Babar area in South Waziristan was considered the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

They said the majority of the local population had fled their homes and villages in October 2009 after Pakistani security forces launched military operation against the militants there.

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