A US drone targeted a house in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region, killing four militants, including foreign fighters, officials said today.

The CIA-operated spy plane fired two missiles at the house in Qutab Khel village, five kilometres from Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan Agency, at around midnight.

The area is a stronghold for Taliban and Al Qaeda elements. Three Arab fighters were among the dead, officials were quoted as saying by the media. Some reports said the dead men were of Afghan origin.

One militant was also injured in the attack. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud died in a drone strike in North Waziristan on November 1. Another drone attack last month on a seminary in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province linked to the Haqqani militant network killed at least six persons.

Pakistan criticises drone strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and counterproductive to efforts to tackle militancy and terrorism.

NATO supply routes to Afghanistan continue to remain blocked because of protests in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province over drone strikes.