Suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan kills two

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles on Thursday into North Waziristan, a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in northwest Pakistan, killing two people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The United States has launched 44 such strikes on suspected militants in Pakistan this year compared with 32 last year. Pakistani forces launched an offensive against militants in the neighbouring South Waziristan region on the Afghan border in mid-October.

The strike hit a house in a village about 18 km (12 miles) east of North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah.

"The house is on fire. Flames are rising," villager Said Wali told Reuters by telephone.

Militants had cordoned off the area and were pulling bodies out of the rubble, one of the Pakistani security agency officials said.

There was no further information about the two people killed in the attack or the identity of the owner of the house which was hit, the officials said.

The United States, facing surging violence in Afghanistan, stepped up its use of the pilotless aircraft to attack targets in Pakistan last year.

Pakistan officially objects to the strikes, saying they are a violation of its sovereignty and cause civilian casualties which bolster Islamist support, but the missiles have killed some top militants.

Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan in August.