A drone strike near the Pakistani-Afghan border killed at least 12 suspected militants, Pakistan's Dawn paper reported Friday.

A suspected United States drone fired six missiles, killing 12 'militants' and wounding several others.

Earlier this week, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar chief Umar Khalid Khorasani was killed in a strike in Paktia along with nine of his associates.

The recent unprecedented increase drone strikes in the Pak-Afghan border region appears to be reflective of a change in policy in Washington, with at least 70 strikes ─ both drone and ground ─ conducted in Afghanistan in the past three weeks, and over 30 people killed in strikes near the border in the last few days.