Top Pakistani Taliban leader killed in drone strike

However, the Pakistani Taliban leadership did not officially confirmed the death.

Missiles hit a house close to Miranshah town in northwest Pakistan early Wednesday.

The strike came a week after US President Barack Obama issued new guidelines for tighter scrutiny of the drone programme and stricter targeting rules.

A senior Taliban source in Miranshah told the BBC that one of those killed in Wednesday's drone strike was Waliur Rehman, the No.2 commander of the Pakistani Taliban.

The US government had placed a $5 million bounty on his head, accusing him of involvement in attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan. These included the 2009 bombing of a US base in which seven CIA agents were killed.u00a0