MIRAMSHAH, Jan 29: Twelve suspected militants were killed in a missile attack on a house in Mirali tehsil in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region on Monday night, officials and witnesses said.

The missile hit a house in Khushali Torikhel village, about three kilometres off Mirali town.

It landed in the guestrooms and killed the 12 people.

Residents said the two guestrooms of the house were destroyed. Local tribesmen immediately took the bodies in possession and buried them.

“A loud explosion rocked the area at 11.22pm and the people came out of their homes in panic,” a resident said.

He said that nobody exactly knew the occupants of the household and some foreigners might have been in the house.

The attack caused anger among tribesmen and students staged a protest in Miramshah. They chanted slogans against the government and the United States.

It could not be confirmed if the attack was carried out by the Pakistani security forces, but locals suspected that the missile had been fired from a drone.

The tribesmen warned that the attack could derail the ongoing talks with militants for restoration of peace in the restive region.