Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Three suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan 's tribal region killed at least 21 suspected militants Friday , Pakistani intelligence officials said . All three strikes occurred in the Khyber Agency , one of the seven districts of Pakistan 's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan . The attacks come as the strikes are expanding into new areas of Pakistan for the first time , and they may signal an extension of the hunt for terrorists along the border with Afghanistan . Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the first attack was on a militant hideout in Sippah village , in the area of the Tirah valley , where seven people died . The second was on a militant hideout in the village of Nakai , where eight more were killed . In the third strike , two missiles were fired on a militant training center in the village of Sangana in Tirah Valley , killing six suspected militants , the two intelligence officials said . The strikes targeted a local militant group , Lashkar-e-Islam ( Mangal Bagh group ) in Khyber Agency , the officials said . Ali Marjan , an important local commander of Lashkar-e-Islam , was killed in the first strike . The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media . U.S. officials normally do not comment on suspected drone strikes , but the United States is the only country known to have the ability to launch missiles in the region from remote-controlled aircraft . In the past , the strikes have focused on North and South Waziristan , but the intelligence officials said many militant leaders have been pushed out of those areas by the drone activity , relocating to areas further north like Khyber . On Thursday , a Pakistani Intelligence official confirmed the first drone strike in Khyber , where a suspected drone fired two missiles and killed 7 militants . Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau , Friday 's strikes bring the total for the year to 106 this year , compared to 52 in all of 2009 . CNN 's Nasir Habib and journalist Nasir Dawar contributed to this report .
NEW : Three strikes occur in the Khyber Agency . Suspected militants are killed in one of the seven districts of Pakistan 's tribal region . In the past , the strikes have focused on North and South Waziristan . Thursday marks the first suspected drone strike in the Khyber Agency .