A missile fired from an unidentified location struck the house of a tribal elder in Pakistan's South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, killing at least 20 and injuring five others, according to the official APP news agency.

The attack occurred at the Dhook Pir Bagh area, some five kilometers from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.

The APP quoted witnesses and sources in the local administration as saying that the tragic incident occurred when one of the three-missile, fired from unidentified location, rammed into the house of Noorullah Wazir where the victims were assembled.

Pakistani Taliban sealed the area after the attack and did not allow any one to reach there, local private TV reported, adding that local tribesmen believed that the missiles were fired from Afghanistan.

They said that they had also seen a drone flying over the area before the attack, the practice adopted by the US-led coalition forces in the past to strike inside the Pakistani territory.

This is the second missile strike in the Pakistani territory in less than 10 days.

Pakistan has lodged a protest against the previous strike in which several were killed after the NATO forces in Afghanistan confirmed the attack in Pakistan.

On Saturday, up to seven American citizens were injured in a blast near an Italian restaurant in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2008)