US drone attack destroys Taliban base in Pakistan, kills five

Five militants were killed after a US drone attack on a Taliban base in Pakistan on Wednesday destroyed their compound.

"The target was a base of Pakistani Taliban. Five militants have been killed and two injured," a local security official told AFP news agency.

The attack, which consisted of two fired missiles, was in the Baber Ghar area of the South Waziristan tribal district on the Afghan border, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The attack was confirmed by another official, who also spoke to AFP, saying the drone targeted a base of Pakistan's umbrella Taliban faction, Tehreek-e-Taliban.

The covert strikes are publicly criticized by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against Islamist militants.

U.N. special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights envoy Ben Emmerson, who visited Islamabad as part of an investigation into civilian casualties caused by drone strikes, said the US drone attacks violated Pakistan's sovereignty.