The past three months have seen a surge of missile strikes but Wednesday's was the first to target a district outside Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. It struck a house in Bannu district, which is a part of northwest Pakistan where al-Qaida and Taliban have found refuge but does not border Afghanistan.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said their agents reported foreigners from Central Asia were among the dead. The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The U.S., which says militants use pockets of northwest Pakistan to plan attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan, is blamed in about 20 cross-border missile strikes since mid-August.

The missiles are believed fired from unmanned planes launched in Afghanistan, where some 32,000 U.S. troops are fighting the Taliban and other militants.

Pakistan has protested the strikes as violations of its sovereignty and international law, but the attacks continue, leading analysts to speculate the two nations have a secret deal.

But until Wednesday, all the attacks since August were in villages in North and South Waziristan, two tribal regions where the government has limited presence and legal power, making notions of its sovereignty questionable.

Bannu, however, is considered a "settled area", which means it falls under the control of the regional government. As such, Wednesday's attack could provoke more anger among by Pakistan's leaders. The Bannu region begins roughly 30 kilometers (18 mile) from the frontier.

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