At least 12 people have been killed in a missile attack by a drone incursion over a Taliban stronghold in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.

"There was a US missile strike on militant hideouts in the Zangara area," a Pakistani security official has revealed.

Zangara is known as a stronghold of Pakistan's Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. Located in South Waziristan, Zangara is part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghanistan border.

Islamabad has repeatedly condemned such US military activities within Pakistan's borders, calling on Washington to halt the strikes.

Although the US military maintains a policy of silence on drone attacks, it is seen as the only force operating in Afghanistan that conducts drone attacks in the region.

At least 500 Pakistanis -- suspected militants as well as civilians -- have been killed by the drone attacks.

MVZ/JG/AA