MIRAMSHAH, Sept 14 Five people were killed and three others injured when missiles fired from a drone hit a car in a village in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan on Monday.

The attack which took place at dawn also damaged several houses in the village of Khushali Torikhel.

Local people who retrieved bodies from the wreckage, said the drone continued to hover over the area after the attack.

AFP news agency quoted a local government official as saying that those killed in the strike were militants belonging to Al Qaeda and two of them were believed to be foreigners.

Local people said the vehicle was parked outside a building and was preparing to leave when it exploded in a fireball in a massive blast.

“We were sleeping in our home after saying dawn prayers when we heard a huge blast. Children started screaming and we thought it landed in our home,” one Haider Khan told AFP by telephone.

“Later on, I found out it landed about 500 metres (yards) away,” he said.

“Its occupants died and four others, who were apparently there to see them off, were wounded,” said Ameerullah Khan who lived near the site of the strike.

“I saw from the roof of my home the blown-up car. Flames continued to rage for almost half an hour,” he added.

The political administration imposed a curfew for an indefinite period in several parts of the agency.

Sources said announcements were made from mosques warning people against violation of curfew.

Educational institutions have remained closed for a week because of curfew in parts of the agency.