DERA ISMAIL KHAN (Pakistan) - A SUSPECTED US missile strike killed three Pakistan militants close to the Afghan border on Friday, officials and witnesses said, the latest in a barrage of such attacks in the Al-Qaeda and Taleban stronghold.

Stepped-up strikes by US unmanned planes since last August have killed scores of militants but angered Pakistani leaders, who say they undercut public support for their anti-terror campaign.

The attack on Friday in South Waziristan was the second in as many days in the region, a semi-autonomous district where the central government and its security forces have little control.

Villager Yar Mohammed said the missile hit an abandoned school in the village of Medan. Two intelligence officials said at least three unidentified Pakistan militants were killed in the strike and two others were wounded.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Shop owner Ameer Mohammed Khan said Taleban surrounded the area after the attack and shifted the dead and the injured to an undisclosed location.

Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment. Washington usually does not confirm such strikes, which are seen as a sign of frustration there with Islamabad's unwillingness or inability to crack down on militants.

There have been more than 30 strikes in the Afghan border region since last August. Islamabad insists it is cracking down on extremists, pointing to a campaign in the border area of Bajur that has left more than 1,000 suspected militants dead. -- AP