A suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan, the second drone attack in four days, has killed 13 people.
Local officials in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, said the dead included women and children as well as militants - some of them foreigners.
But a Taleban spokesman denied this, saying all those killed were civilians.
The US military does not routinely confirm drone attacks, but US forces in Afghanistan are believed to be the only ones in the region with the capability.
Pakistan is critical of drone use because, it says, civilians are often killed, fuelling support for militants.
Retaliation threatened
Local administration officials say the missiles destroyed part of a house owned by a school teacher in a village near the region's main town of Miranshah.
A number of foreign militants were among those killed in the strike at 0300 local (2200 Friday), security officials said.
But a Taleban spokesman said all the dead were civilians.
Dozens of suspected drone strikes have killed hundreds in recent months
The spokesman said the Taleban held Pakistan responsible for the strike, adding that it should be ready for retaliation.
The latest incident comes only three days after a missile fired by a suspected US drone killed at least 14 people in Pakistan's Orakzai tribal area, near the Afghan border.
Correspondents say that more than 35 suspected drone strikes have killed more than 340 people since August 2008, shortly before the election of President Asif Ali Zardari.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to make the war against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan a foreign policy priority.
Most missile strikes by drones have targeted foreign fighters in the Waziristan region over the past couple of years.
The drone attacks are said to be part of a new US strategy to eliminate the Taleban and al-Qaeda leadership who are reportedly operating from Pakistan's tribal region next to the border with Afghanistan, says the BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad.
Map of Waziristan, PakistanA suspected United States drone missile attack in northwestern Pakistan has left 13 people dead, local security officials say.

The strike hit a town in the tribal area of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, an apparent stronghold of Al-Qaeda militants.

"Thirteen people were killed. Ten of them are militants and the identity of the other three — whether they are militants or civilians — is not yet confirmed," a local official told AFP, asking to remain anonymous. 

"The missile hit a house where some guests were staying. We have information that 13 people were killed including some guests," an intelligence official stated.

The apparent target was the home of Tariq Khan, a local Wazir tribesman, who has been described as a 'facilitator of the Taliban'.

Pakistan has repeatedly condemned the U.S. drone attacks. Just two days prior to this latest attack, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told a press briefing that "they are violations of our sovereignty and secondly they are counterproductive. They are not helpful in our efforts to win hearts and minds. So we cannot accept drone attacks," he said.

US special envoy Richard Holbrooke is scheduled to visit Pakistan next week and this issue will be discussed, according to Basit.

More than 35 suspected drone attacks have killed over 340 people since August last year.