Almost 12 suspected Pakistani militants were killed by a missile which hit a house Monday night, according to officials.

The missile struck a house after midnight in Torkhali, a village in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.

According to an intelligence official, six victims were Pakistani militants and the other four were foreigners.

He said: “The identities of the dead are not ascertained but we had reports that suspected them of being linked to the Taliban,” AFP reports.

A local administration official said: “A missile came from an unknown direction on Monday night and hit the house, after which 12 people have died.”

In the last few weeks violence has been rising in the north-west part of Pakistan. Fighting has been carried mainly in South Waziristan, also near the Afghan border.

This month the Pakistani government launched an attack against Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who is accused for the death of Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan. He is also accused of other bomb attacks against Pakistani army.

The incident comes hours after 250 schoolchildren were taken hostage by gunmen in Bannu in North West Frontier yesterday. They freed the children unharmed after negotiations with elders from the tribe.

During his visit to London on Monday, President Pervez Musharraf said that a hard position is necessary against extremism referring to the incident of the schoolchildren taken hostage.

In another incident a soldier was killed early Tuesday during fighting at Shishamwan village.

According to a statement released by the army, militant victims “could not be ascertained.”

In North Waziristan five other soldiers were killed Monday night due to rocket attacks, according to officials.

This month Musharraf refused for CIA or U.S. Special Forces to run their programs in north-west of Pakistan.

That area is known to be a stronghold of al-Qaida members, including Uzbeks and Arabs, and Taliban militants.