A pilotless U.S. drone aircraft fired a missile in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 12 people, a security official and residents said.

The strike was the first drone attack in the Orakzai ethnic Pashtun tribal region, which is near but not on the Afghan border, southwest of the city of Peshawar.

Residents of Khadizai village said the missile killed 12 people. A security official, who declined to be identified, confirmed the death toll and added that 13 people had been wounded.

A Pakistani Taliban official said the missile had hit a camp for guests.

"We have sent our people down there but we don't know about the casualties," the Taliban official, who declined to be identified, said by telephone.

Orakzai had been one of the most peaceful Pashtun regions in northwest Pakistan.

Pakistan objects to the strikes saying they killed civilian people.

Since last year, more than 30 U.S. strikes have killed about 300 people, according to reports from Pakistani officials, residents and militants.