Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- A suspected U.S. drone struck and killed targets in Pakistan 's tribal region Friday , the first such attack since American troops killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad earlier this week . Two Pakistani intelligence officials told CNN that 12 suspected militants were killed in the assault in the Data Khel region of North Waziristan , one of the seven districts of Pakistan 's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan . The drone , an unmanned aircraft , attacked a militant hideout and a vehicle carrying militants . The U.S. operation targeting bin Laden intensified discord and highlighted the mistrust between Pakistan and the United States , which did not inform the Pakistanis of the raid in the military garrison town of Abbottabad . Before that dramatic operation , many Pakistanis had been particularly displeased with the controversial practice of targeting militants with unmanned aircraft because civilians have died in the operations . Last month , 44 people were killed in a drone strike in Pakistan 's tribal region and the government of Pakistan formally asked the U.S. government for an apology . After that strike , frequency of the drone strikes was reduced . CNN 's Islamabad bureau has counted only four drone strikes over the last month and a half . Friday 's suspected drone strike was the 21st this year compared to 111 in all of 2010 . There was no immediate comment on the strike from the United States . The intelligence officials asked not be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media . Imran Khan -- head of a right-wing political party in Pakistan -- has warned that his party and followers will disrupt the flow of supplies through Pakistan to NATO troops in Afghanistan if the strikes are n't stopped . His group held a sit-in protest against the strikes in Peshawar last month . Around 8,000 to 10,000 people participated .
The operation took place in North Waziristan . The strikes have been controversial in Pakistan . One report warned of a NATO supply route .