MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Two women were killed and four children injured by a suspected U.S. coalition rocket fired from Afghanistan landed on their tents in a Pakistani tribal area, officials said Sunday.

"Two women of a gipsy family were killed and four children were injured when a rocket hit their tent late Saturday," an administration official told AFP.

He said that four injured children were being treated at a government hospital in nearby Mirali district, but he was unable to say who fired the rocket.

Villagers said members of nomad tribes living in Bangi Dar border village were hit by one of the four rockets launched by U.S.-led coalition forces from the Shankai checkpost in Afghanistan's Khost province.

They said that coalition forces fired rockets after their positions came under fire by unknown attackers from the Afghan territory near Pakistan border.

The coalition confirmed it had responded to "indirect fire" in the area on Saturday but said it was not aware of casualties on either side of the border.

"The coalition forces identified this (the fire) as coming from the border and coordinated with the Pakistan military and fired artillery rounds at the point of origin," spokesman Lieutenant Mike Cody told AFP in Kabul. "The coalition has no reports heard of injuries on their side."

Bangi Dar lies some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Miranshah, the main town of the restive North Waziristan tribal district where Pakistan military is hunting Al-Qaeda linked militants.

The incident came on the same day as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said that a U.S. air strike last month on a Pakistani tribal village had killed relatives of Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The January 13 attack killed a close relative of al-Zawahiri and four other militants, Pakistan military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan quoted Musharraf as saying on Saturday.

The attack on the village in the Bajur tribal agency bordering Afghanistan sparked protests in Pakistan after residents and officials said up to 18 civilians were also killed.

Pakistan's military says it has killed hundreds of insurgents in operations throughout the semi-autonomous tribal areas since late 2003. More than 250 Pakistani soldiers have also died.

The rebels sneaked into the region after a U.S.-led military offensive ousted the fundamentalist Taliban region just over four years ago, and Afghan authorities say they continue to mount attacks in their country.

Around 20,000 U.S.-led soldiers are also hunting militants across the rugged, porous border in southern and eastern Afghanistan.