The BBC reported eight people had been killed in the village of Kalosha, possibly Arab militants, while the Press Trust of India said local TV channels put the death toll at 12 with 11 more injured and said most of those killed were believed to be Afghan seminary students.

Local residents said as many as three rockets struck the seminary and a house about 2 a.m. in the village located in South Waziristan, the Press Trust reported.

It was not known who launched the attack.

"There was a huge explosion, driving people out of their houses," Abdullah, a resident of the nearby community of Wana, told the BBC.

"It is difficult to say where the missile came from, but we think it was fired from Afghan territory."