Eleven Taliban militants were killed in two American drone strikes in Pakistan’s rugged tribal regions today, officials said.

A close ally of a senior militant has been killed in a suspected US drone attack in Pakistan’s tribal region, intelligence officials have revealed.

MILITANTS attacked Afghan government offices and a police convoy yesterday, continuing a series of assaults that has left at least 41 people dead in the region over two days.

A vehicle carrying a group of suspected Taliban fighters attacked a military checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, sparking a firefight that left six dead and at least four wounded, police said.

American troops caught in a gunfight with Afghan militants called in air strikes in fighting that killed at least 20 Taliban rebels.