Islamabad, Apr. 4 : At least 17 persons including five children were reportedly killed and several others injured in a suicide attack in North Waziristan's Miranshah area on Saturday.

According to sources, a suicide bomber tried to crash his explosive-laden vehicle into the Pakistan Army convoy which was on its way to Miranshah from Bannu.

A Frontier Corps (FC) gunman, in an effort to prevent the military convoy from being attacked, opened fire on the attacker's vehicle, subsequently blowing it away.

The blast was so powerful that it killed 17 persons on the spot, The News reported.

Eyewitnesses said the place where the blast took place was crowded with people including children returning from school.

Earlier, in the morning thirteen persons were killed and six others injured in a suspected US drone strike in the Datakhel area of the region.

According to sources, missiles hit a house of a local tribesman in the region killing several people on the spot, including some foreign militants.

Officials said some women and children may also have been killed in the strike. (ANI)