A US drone strike killed the deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban yesterday in the country's lawless tribal northwest, dealing a major blow to the militant network.

Waliur Rehman, the number two in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan faction, died along with at least five others when an unmanned US drone fired two missiles on a house in North Waziristan district yesterday.

Pakistani security sources said that Rehman, who had a 5 million US dollar government bounty on his head, was the target of the strike, which came a week after US President Barack Obama outlined new more restrictive guidelines on drone use.