PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – Suspected militants set off a blast while making bombs at their compound in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least eight people, including a woman and three children, army officials said.

The explosion occurred in the tribal village of Mosaki, about 12 miles east of Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.

Several male foreigners were among those killed, but Sultan had not further details and it was not immediately clear if top Taliban or al-Qaida suspects were among them.

The suspects set off the blast while making detonators for improvised bombs at their mud-walled compound, Sultan said.

An army officer in Peshawar and a security official in Miran Shah, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said eight people had died, including three children. Sultan said a woman also was among the dead.

Mosaki is in a part of the North West Frontier Province that was not affected by South Asia’s Oct. 8 quake.

Military officials say hundreds of Arab, Afghan and Central Asian militants with alleged links to al-Qaida operate in the rugged area, near the border with Afghanistan.

Mosaki residents said the suspected militants, who appeared to be Arabs, had been renting the compound for several months.