Two Arab members of al Qaeda are reported to have been killed in yesterday's airstrike in North Waziristan.

The airstrike, which was carried out by unmanned US attack aircraft, targeted a vehicle moving in the town of Aspangla near the main town of Miramshah. Three people were initially reported killed in the attack.

The region is a stronghold of the Haqqani Network and Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar; both shelter al Qaeda and other jihadi terror groups. Several months ago, the Pakistani military signed a peace agreement with Bahadar to clear the path to conduct the military operation against the Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan

Taliban fighters confirmed the death of the two Arabs and said the men were from Saudi Arabia, The News reported. The identity of the Saudi al Qaeda members could not be determined as "the car was torn into pieces."

It is unclear if the Saudi al Qaeda members were senior leaders in the terror group. Saudi and Egyptian members of al Qaeda often serve as senior leaders for al Qaeda.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not disclose the identity of the targets of the latest strike, but stated that the effort to "degrade al Qaeda's networks in Pakistan's tribal areas" continues.

The US air campaign has failed to kill a senior al Qaeda or Taliban leader since September, when a series of attacks killed Najmuddin Jalolov, the leader of the Islamic Jihad Group; Mustafa al Jaziri, a member of al Qaeda's military council; and Maulvi Ismail Khan, a military commander in the Haqqani Network. Ilyas Kashmiri, the operations commander of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami and the operations chief of Brigade 313, was also thought to have been killed but he later resurfaced.

The number of US airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal areas has decreased since September. There were only two airstrikes in October, two in November, and one this month. Prior to October, the number of strikes had averaged between six and seven per month.

The scaleback in attacks in Pakistan is attributed to the fact al Qaeda and the Taliban have adapted to the US' tactics, improved their operational security, and have ruthlessly killed anyone suspected of providing intelligence, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal.