CIA disputes civilian drone death claims

The U.S. government Friday disputed reports its drones in Pakistan have killed hundreds of civilians, including more than 160 children.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London this week said the CIA's counter-terror drone program has killed 385 civilians, 168 of them children, in 291 strikes since 2004. The CIA says the program has killed 2,000 suspected militants but vehemently disputes the BIJ's civilian numbers.

"The numbers cited by this organization are way off the mark," a senior U.S. official told ABC News. "We see the battlefield in real time; the Bureau of Investigative Journalism doesn't. ... This group's allegations about individual strikes are, in every case, divorced from the facts on the ground."

The CIA estimates 50 civilians have been killed, the official said.

"We certainly don't think our numbers are off the mark," Chris Woods, the lead reporter on the BIJ project, told ABC. "The strikes we're reporting and the casualty figures we're reporting are directly sourced from credible media reports and other sources where we've done our best to get the clearest public understanding of what's happening in these strikes. Of course what's missing from the information is the internal information from the CIA itself."

Suspected militants killed in drone strike

Missiles that may have been fired by a U.S. drone Wednesday killed several suspected militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, officials said.

CNN, quoting two Pakistani intelligence officials, said the missiles killed seven suspected pro-Taliban militants in the region near the border with Afghanistan. Other reports gave a much higher toll.

CNN reported the missile strikes targeted a militant hideout in the Gora Qabristan area of the region, seen by U.S. experts as a haven used by militants to launch attacks on U.S. and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani intelligence officials told CNN the militants belonged to a Haqqani network, accused of attacking the coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The report said U.S. officials -- who maintain rogue elements within Pakistan's main spy agency the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate are supportive of the militants -- have been urging the Pakistani military to go after the Haqqani network in North

Drone attack kills 6 suspected militants

Six suspected militants were killed in a drone attack on a vehicle in Pakistan's tribal region of South Waziristan Monday, intelligence officials said.

The Pakistani officials told CNN a drone fired two missiles at the vehicle.

South Waziristan is on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and the majority of drone strikes have been in areas in North and South Waziristan, the officials said.

Intelligence experts say the areas are havens for militants.

The United States normally doesn't comment on drone strikes but is the only country in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from remote-controlled drones.