At least seven people were killed today and several others were wounded in the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali, 25 kilometers east of Miramshah, when US drones fired a pair of missiles at a building.

Officials said the identities of the slain were unclear, but that four of them may well have been ethnic Uzbeks. Security sources still labeled the slain as “suspected militants,” however.

The CIA has launched an increasing number of strikes since a late December attack on their Khost headquarters in neighboring Afghanistan. Over 150 people have been killed so far this year, only a handful of which were confirmed to be militant leaders.

Officials have yet to determine the identities of most of those slain so far this year, but the vast, vast majority of those slain in 2009 had no apparent militant ties at all, and were likely innocent civilians who happen to live in the tribal area.

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