The strike by a suspected US spy plane was the fourth this month in North Waziristan, where militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda who are fighting against 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are said to be hiding.

"We believe that all the 10 men killed in the strike were Afghans as the compound belonged to the Haqqani network," a senior security official in the area told AFP on condition of anonymity.

But the individual identities of the dead and whether there were any high value targets were not immediately clear.

"We are collecting information about the identity of all those killed in the attack," the official said. At least five militants were wounded, he added.

The Haqqani network is a powerful Afghan group based in northwest Pakistan closely linked to Al-Qaeda and known for its sophisticated attacks targeting the Afghan government and foreign troops in Afghanistan.

It is led by former mujahedeen leader Jalaludin Haqqani, who was a hero of the resistance against Soviet occupation during the 1980s. He aligned himself with the Taliban in the 1990s and became an important insurgent leader in 2003.

His son Siraj is believed to have taken recent command of the network.

The compound hit by the US spy plane late Thursday was said to be the home of Afghan national Ahmad Afghani.

There were unconfirmed reports that a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani is called Ahmad. Officials said it was not yet clear whether Ahmad was present at the time of attack in the Dandy Darpa Khel area of North Waziristan.

Local residents said the attack took place while militants were sleeping, around 15 to 30 minutes before midnight Thursday.

"Militants were asleep in the open air at the time of the strike," one resident said, requesting anonymity.

There was completely charred bedding and grass, as well as pools of blood at the site after the attack, he added.

The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy drones in the region.

Washington says Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan are holed up in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Islamabad publicly opposes US missile strikes, saying they violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among the populace. Since August 2008, 57 such strikes have killed nearly 570 people.

But the government welcomed the death of Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone attack on August 5 and whose hideouts the Pakistani military has also been targeting in South Waziristan.

More than 2,100 people have died in bombings across the country since July 2007, when government forces besieged a radical mosque in Islamabad and Mehsud loyalists claimed responsibility for some of the worst attacks.

Thursday's attack came as US President Barack Obama called for a "sustained and expanded" commitment to Pakistan from the international community.

He told a meeting of a 26-member Pakistan support group, which he chaired with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in New York, that they all shared an interest in Pakistan's future.

As proof of Washington's commitment to its key regional ally, the US Senate voted Thursday to triple non-military aid to Islamabad to about 1.5 billion dollars per year through 2014.

earlier related report
Obama urges world to rally behind Pakistan
US President Barack Obama urged "sustained and expanded" support for Pakistan at an international summit Thursday aimed at helping Washington's nuclear-armed ally defeat extremism.

Obama, seated next to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, told the meeting of the 26-member Friends of Democratic Pakistan that a US Senate vote for billions of dollars in aid for Islamabad was proof of US support.

All member nations, he said, shared an interest in the South Asian country's future.

"We also face a common threat. The violent extremists within Pakistan pose a threat to the region, to the United States, and to the world. Above all, they threaten the security of the Pakistani people," Obama told the summit, which he chaired with Zardari and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Pakistan's lawless semi-autonomous areas in the northwest have been beset by violence after Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels sought refuge there following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

"We believe that hope can triumph over fear, and that adversity can be replaced by opportunity," Obama insisted at the meeting held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"Success will require a sustained and expanded commitment from the international community," he said at a New York hotel, according to prepared remarks released by the White House.

As proof of Washington's commitment to its key regional ally, the Senate voted Thursday to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to roughly 1.5 billion dollars per year through 2014.

The Senate's unanimous approval set the stage for action in the House of Representatives, where the measure could be introduced as early as Friday with a vote expected soon thereafter that would send it to Obama to sign into law.

"We are here to meet our mutual responsibility for our future," the US president said.

"We know that there are difficult challenges ahead. But that is why we must remain focused, we must be committed and we must stay together. As Pakistan makes progress, the United States will be there as a partner."

Zardari spoke of his country's progress -- both political and economic, in his address to the summit.

"A year ago, Pakistan was seen as weak and at risk. Today, we are in a much improved situation. In our economic strength will rest our political stability," he said.

"A stable, prosperous Pakistan is the world's greatest hope against extremism."

Among the gains he mentioned is the Pakistani army's fight this year against extremists in the Swat Valley.

"Our engagement and partnership must continue as the job is not yet done," Zardari said.

Richard Holbrooke, the president's special envoy to both Afghanistan and Pakistan, hailed the vote as "a very important step forward" for sometimes tense relations between the United States and Pakistan.

The measure, which seeks to use economic development to battle the despair that can fuel extremism, comes at a time when Obama has vowed to overhaul US strategy for Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

The new aid would seek to foster economic growth and democratic reforms in Pakistan, notably by helping democratic institutions and the country's educational system flourish.

The measure also authorizes unspecified military aid in sums necessary to help Pakistan battle Al-Qaeda and other Islamist fighters, but requires that such assistance flow through Pakistan's democratically elected government.

It also demands that the government in Islamabad demonstrate a sustained effort to combat extremist groups and show progress towards defeating them.

Supporters of the legislation said it would help convince doubting Pakistanis that the United States will stand by them in what is likely to be a long struggle against extremists.

Democratic Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a lead author of the bill, said it would help "forge a new long-term relationship between the people of America and Pakistan."

The Friends of Democratic Pakistan group -- whose members include the United States, Britain, France, China, the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank -- aims to support economic and social development as a means of stabilizing the nuclear-armed country.

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