Islamabad, Sep 18 (DPA) An important leader of an Uzbek militant group that is closely associated with Al Qaeda was killed in a recent US drone attack in Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday.

Najmiddin Jalolov alias Yahov, 37, was killed Monday when the four-wheel drive he was travelling in was hit by a single missile fired from an unmanned drone aircraft in Mir Ali area, North Waziristan district, which is a hotbed of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants.

'There were four people in the vehicle, all of them foreign nationals, when the drone targeted them at around 6.05 a.m. Monday. All the four militants died on the spot,' said a local intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

'The reports from the local sources confirm that Najmiddin is dead and been buried,' added the official.

Jalolov was an important leader of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), an Al Qaeda linked terrorist organisation that is believed to be behind several terrorist plots and attacks in Germany and Uzbekistan.

The US Treasury Department designated the IJU as terrorist group in 2008, the UN has also placed sanctions on it including freezing its assets.

The Pakistani intelligence official said Jalolov moved into Mir Ali area three years back when he was expelled from the neighbouring South Waziristan district by pro-government Taliban commander Mullah Nazir after prolonged fighting which saw hundreds of Uzbek fighters dead.