At least twenty people have been killed in the latest US missile strike in tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan, local security officials confirm. 

According to two Pakistani intelligence officials on Sunday, a US drone fired two missiles that hit the house of local tribesman Awal Gul in Enzer Kasa village of the Datta Khel area in North Waziristan, a tribal region near the Afghan border. 

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. 

A total of 300 people have so far lost their lives in 42 drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal belt this year. 

Washington claims that the raids target militants in Pakistan, but hundreds of civilians have fallen victim to the US drone attacks since 2008. 

Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the strikes, saying they threaten the country’s sovereignty and fuel public anger. 

Despite the Pakistani people and government’s opposition to the US drone strikes, the Pentagon Thursday authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to target a wider range of targets in Pakistan with its drone-guided missiles. 

The US drone strikes began to expand under former US president George W. Bush and have further increased under President Barack Obama.