Gunmen broke into the house of a Pakistani official and killed 13 people near a northwestern town where Islamist militants are active, police said today.
The killings happened late last night in Gomal village, in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
The house belonged to Pir Aurangzeb, a senior official with the government-run power utility WAPDA. Those killed included Mr Aurangzeb, five members of his family and seven guests.
Violence has been increasing in parts of NWFP over the past year or so. Some analysts say that is evidence of "Talibanisation", or the spread of militant influence from remote tribal regions on the Afghan border to more developed, populous areas.
Militants angry over Pakistan's support for the US-led war on terrorism have killed a large number of government officials in recent years in the tribal regions.
Tank is the gateway to the South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border, known as a hotbed of support for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.