ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Four militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region were killed in what Pakistani officials said was the first U.S. drone strike since November.
Iran's Press TV, quoting security officials, reported two missiles struck a private compound outside Miranshah near the border with Afghanistan in the strike late Tuesday.
The United States does not confirm or deny drone strikes. The drone program had been halted in November after a NATO airstrike in which 24 Pakistani soldiers died.
That attack, on Nov. 26, set off huge protests in Pakistan, causing already deeply strained relations between the United States and Pakistan to further deteriorate.
A U.S. investigation into the November incident blamed poor communication and "inadequate coordination" between the two sides. But the Pakistani side maintained the strike was unprovoked and closed supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The New York Times said the pause in the drone program had been meant to prevent further worsening of bilateral relations but quoted U.S. officials during the weekend as saying that any pause was not to be taken as a weakening of counter-terrorism efforts.
Diplomats and intelligence analysts told the Times the lull in the program was allowing greater freedom of movement for battered insurgent groups.
A logistics operative with the Haqqani terrorist group, which uses sanctuaries in Pakistan to carry out attacks in Afghanistan, told the Times in a telephone interview there were still drones on surveillance missions "but there is no fear anymore."
"It makes sense that a lull in U.S. operations, coupled with ineffective Pakistani efforts, might lead the terrorists to become complacent and try to regroup," one U.S. official was quoted as saying.
