The United States has launched its first drone attack in Pakistan after more than a month-long lull, killing at least four suspected militants, CNN has confirmed.

It represents an apparent end to the pause in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, halted last year after a set of controversial American strikes left two dozen Pakistani soldiers dead at two mountainous border posts and further strained relations between the two nations.

Pakistan's military has repeatedly insisted that airstrikes that killed 24 of its soldiers on November 26 near the Afghan border were deliberate. Its government s