In Pakistan, five people were killed today in a missile strike fired by a suspected US drone aircraft in the north-wetern parts of the country. Security officials said the attack targeted a compound in the Deegan area, 30 kilometre west of Miranshah, in North Waziristan. Officials said all those killed in the strike were militants.<br/><br/>North and South Waziristan are known sanctuaries for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. There have been about a dozen such strikes this year alone. The US has stepped up drone attacks in north-west Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed seven CIA agents across the border in Afghanistan last month.