Islamabad - Up to 50 people were killed in three airstrikes by Pakistani and US forces and a suicide bombing carried out by suspected Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan on Friday, officials and media reports said.

Some 30 people, including a suspected al-Qaeda operative, were killed when US drones targeted suspected militant hideouts in the the tribal region that lies along Pakistan's Afghan border.

"A US pilotless aircraft fired two guided missiles on the house of a person named Amanullah in the village of Asori in the Mir Ali sub- district of North Waziristan," said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The house was demolished and caught fire. People tried to pull out the dead and the injured from the rubble but the fire hampered their efforts, the official added.

"An al-Qaeda operative, Abu Akash, who was of Iraqi origin, and his four colleagues were believed to be among the 20 to 25 dead," he said.

According to another intelligence official, who also declined to be named, Akash was tasked by al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan with convincing the local Taliban to avoid conflict with Pakistani security forces.

"He was roaming the area talking to various Taliban leaders for the last two months and telling them that their strategy was harming the Islamist cause in Afghanistan," he said.

Separately, another suspected US drone fired two missiles on a house in neighboring South Waziristan district.

"The missiles demolished the house of a local tribesman Haroon Wazir in Doug village," a local security official said.

According to initial reports nine people were killed and several injured, he added. "It is not clear whether there were foreigners among the killed or wounded."

The term "foreigner" refers to the militants of Arab and Central Asian origin liked with al-Qaeda's terrorist network.

Pakistan's tribal belt, only loosely controlled by Islamabad, is believed to provide safe-haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters launching cross-border attacks on US-led forces in Afghanistan.

But Islamabad has deployed more than 100,000 troops in the region and launched major offensives to restrict cross-border activity. Hundreds of people, including militants, security personnel and civilians, have died in the offensives.

The militants have also carried out dozens of suicide attacks across Pakistan, killing more than 4,000 people and forcing the government in Islamabad to take tough action against them.

In the neighboring North-western frontier Province (NWFP) a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the office of a senior police officer, killing five policemen and four civilians, and injuring 12.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Akhtar Ali Shah said the attack against a vehicle of his security escort took place when he was about to leave his office in Mardan, some 50 kilometres north-east of provincial capital Peshawar.

His deputy Iqbal Khan said the bomber, who was on foot, detonated the explosives when he was "challenged by an officer on duty."

The bombing campaign has created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, driving away foreign investors, at a time of economic uncertainty in the country.

Separately, eight Taliban militants were killed when army helicopter gunships pounded their positions in Mamoond area of Bajaur tribal district, where security forces are engaged in operations against insurgents launching cross-border attacks on US-led forces in Afghanistan, the Urdu-language Aaj news channel said.

One of the shells hit a residential area, destroying a mud house and killing two children and a woman, it reported. (dpa)