By DPA
Islamabad : At least 30 suspected militants were killed Tuesday in an explosion, suspected to be a missile attack, in a seminary in Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, an official said.
There were conflicting reports about the place and cause of the blast.
Three rockets fired from Afghanistan hit a madrassa in a small village south of Dattakhil area of North Waziristan between 10 and 11 a.m., killing 30 to 35 people and wounding several, a local security official said on condition of anonymity.
"More than 50 people, mainly students, were present in the seminary at the time," he added.
Another official said the explosions were caused by rockets from Afghanistan, but he claimed that the target was a militant hideout and not a madrassa.
Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were some casualties in an explosion, but he denied that it was caused by a rocket attack.
"We were informed by the local administration that some explosive device being made by suspected terrorists might have detonated prematurely," Major-General Waheed Arshad told Geo news channel. Pakistani security forces were also not undertaking any operation in the area, he added.
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said they had no knowledge of the blasts. "We have no information of the incident," ISAF spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said.
Authorities in Pakistan have termed several previous attacks by US-led coalition forces as "premature detonations" by militants, in a bid to avoid public criticism over not doing enough to protect country's territorial sovereignty.
Pakistan's tribal areas have experienced scores of similar attacks since Taliban and Al Qaeda militants fled into the area after US-led forces attacked Afghanistan in 2001.
More than 80 people died in a missile strike on a madrassa seminary in October 2006 in tribal area Bajaur. Pakistani authorities that took the blame for the attack said all the dead were militants, but locals claimed the victims were all innocent students.
Last year, the government signed a peace accords with the local tribesmen in North Waziristan under which they are obliged to contain militant activities in the area.
But US officials have criticized the deals, saying they have merely created safe havens for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.