Islamabad, Oct 31 (IANS)

 Pakistan Thursday strongly condemned a fresh US drone strike in the country's North Waziristan tribal region that killed at least three people.

The spy aircraft, in a pre-dawn attack, fired missiles at Miranshah, the headquarter town of North Waziristan, Xinhua quoted security officials and residents as saying.

"The government of Pakistan strongly condemns the US drone strike that took place in Miranshah, North Waziristan, in the early hours of Oct 31. These strikes are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the foreign ministry said.

"There is an across-the-board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end," the ministry said in a statement released hours after the strike.

It said the Pakistani government has consistently maintained that drone strikes were counter-productive, entailed loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications.

"Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in inter-state relations," the foreign ministry warned, adding that these drone strikes have a negative impact on the mutual desire of the US and Pakistan to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Thursday's attack was the first strike in almost a month since Sep 30.

The attack came almost a week after rights groups Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch both released their reports on drone strikes and followed a report by the United Nations special rapporteur on the same issue.

The strike was conducted just days after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the issue of drone attacks with US President Barack Obama at the White House during his US visit.