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ISLAMABAD, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Officials in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal district said a mortar shell fired from the Afghan side of the border killed at least seven people on Sunday.

Gulzar Khan, deputy superintendent of police in Bajaur, confirmed the incident to reporters in Bajaur, bordering Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.

Khan said the mortar shell hit a house near the border and four children were among the killed in the incident.

The police officer, who arrived at the scene along with a large contingent of police, blamed militants for firing the mortar shell which promoted protest by the local tribal elders.

Witnesses said parts of the house were destroyed in the incident, and police and residents pulled bodies out of the debris.

An official at the police control room in the area told Xinhua that the mortar shell landed on the Pakistani side at around 5:00 p.m. local time.

Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven tribal districts, had been a stronghold of militants.

In 2008, Pakistani security forces carried out a major operation against the militants in tribal districts. Officials said militants fled to Afghanistan as the result of the operation and now operate from the other side of the border.

Pakistan temporarily closed Torkham, one of its major border crossings with Afghanistan, on Wednesday after two mortars fired from the Afghan soil landed on the Pakistani side. There was no casualty in the incident. Enditem