Pakistani intelligence sources say a U.S. drone strike in northwest Pakistan has killed a senior militant with links to al-Qaida.

Badar Mansoor was killed in the attack early Thursday morning at a house in Miranshah, the main town in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area.

Officials say Mansoor led a group of Pakistani Taliban fighters in the region and had close ties to al-Qaida.

At least three other militants were also killed in the missile strike.

It was the second such attack in northwest Pakistan in as many days.

Pakistan's northwest border region is home to both Pakistani and Afghan Taliban fighters.

The Washington-based New America Foundation says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,700 and 2,700 people in the past eight years.

Pakistan rejects the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.