WANA, Aug 13: At least 12 militants, most of them non-locals, were killed in a series of explosions in Bagher area of South Waziristan on late Tuesday night. The local Taliban suspected the blasts were caused by a missile attack.

Local people reported having heard four loud explosions late in the night. The place targeted was the residence of local tribesman Abdur Rehman Wazir in Bagher, about 30 kilometres west of Wana.

Rehman Wazir, who is reported to have been killed in the attack, belonged to a pro-militant group led by Maulvi Nazir.

Militants cordoned off the area soon after the attack and did not allow local people to retrieve bodies.

Sources said that the most of the dead were non-locals, probably from Punjab. Their names could not be ascertained.

Local Taliban claimed that the missiles were fired by a Predator drone operated by the allied forces “from the Afghan side” and the victims “were local”. On July 28, senior Al Qaeda commander Abu Khabab Al Misri and 11 other people were killed in a missile attack in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan.

Meanwhile, security forces clashed with militants in the nearby Jandola frontier region, our correspondent adds from Tank.

Officials said that two militants of the Baitullah Mehsud group were killed in the clashes.

The clashes followed an attack by militants on a vehicle of security forces in the Kirri area on Tuesday. One soldier was killed and five others were wounded in the attack.