At least five people were killed in a US drone strike launched early Wednesday in Pakistan’s tribal region of North Waziristan, a media report here said.

The strike was carried out at about 4.00 a.m. when US drones fired six missiles at a house and a vehicle in Miranshal town of North Waziristan, a restive tribal area along Pakistan-Afghan border, Xinhua reported.

The dead could not be immediately identified.

Wednesday morning’s US drone strike was the first of its kind since the armed forces of Pakistan launched a massive operation against the local and foreign militants hiding in North Waziristan.

Nine people, including two women and a policeman, were killed Wednesday in two separate firing incidents in Pakistan.

In the first incident, unidentified gunmen armed with automatic weapons entered a house early Wednesday and shot dead eight members of a family, including two women, in Kahi area of Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Xinhua reported.

The victims had been displaced from the restive northwestern tribal Orakzai Agency and were living in a rented house.

The motive behind the killings was not yet known, but it was thought to be the outcome of personal enmity.

In another incident, unidentified gunmen killed a policeman in the southern port city of Karachi.

Two men riding a motorcycle opened fire at the policeman near Tibet Center at M.A. Jinnah Road, killing him on the spot.