Eight militants were killed in a missile strike believed to be launched by U.S. drone in northwestern Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal agency, local TV reported Tuesday.

According to the private DAWN News, intelligence officials said that the unmanned fighter plane fired missiles at the training centers of the militants in Kanigram village in the tribal area, killing eight and injuring five others.

Pakistan's most wanted Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, was reportedly killed along with his wife and bodyguards by a U.S. missile attack last week in South Waziristan, part of the lawless tribal region along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Taliban and Al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding in the area.

The United States has intensified drone attacks on the tribal region despite Pakistan's protest at a time when the security forces are engaged in major offensive against Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan.

Pakistani officials say the drone strikes have killed more than 400 people in more than 40 attacks since August 2008.

Pakistan insists that drone attacks are counterproductive and must be stopped but the CIA chief and top U.S. officials have ruled out any change in the policy.

South Waziristan has recently become the focus of the Pakistani military's offensive against Taliban sympathizers after it claimed it has cleared most of the areas in Swat Valley and other parts of Malakand area in the northwest.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2009)