ISLAMABAD - At least 20 Taliban militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike and attacks carried out by Pakistani troops in the country’s restive northwestern region Monday, officials said.

A missile allegedly fired by an unmanned US aircraft targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying Taliban fighters in the North Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border.

“Four militants were killed and at least five others wounded,” a local intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear whether any high-profile target was hit in the assault which took place at around 6 a.m. local time.

It was the third missile strike in the North Waziristan region within a week as two simultaneous aerial raids last Monday and Tuesday killed at least 15 militants, including Uzbek fighters.

Pakistan publicly opposes US drone strikes inside its tribal territory, saying they violate its sovereignty.

Officials in Islamabad argue that the assaults are counter-productive in the fight against militancy, as they fuel public criticism of US operations against Taliban insurgents.

Pakistan’s tribal region is considered a hotbed of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, who use the rugged lands to plan and launch attacks.

Separately, one soldier and 16 militants were killed in fighting between security forces and Taliban in Swat and Dir districts in the neighbouring North-West Frontier Province.

An army statement said the security forces conducted a search operation at Charbagh and killed four terrorists, including two “terrorist commanders.”

Soldiers and militants exchanged fire on Jholagram-Kalangi road in Swat, which left eight terrorists dead, the army said.

Three more militants and one soldier died in fighting elsewhere in Swat, while one Islamist insurgent was killed in fighting in Dir district.

Thousands of military and paramilitary troops launched operations in Swat in late April to expel rebels from the region after they violated a peace agreement and moved closer to the capital, Islamabad.

So far over 2,000 militants and 200 soldiers have been killed in the clashes.

The army declared victory in the Swat conflict in July but violence continues, resulting in the deaths of militants and soldiers on an almost daily basis.