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Suicide bomb hits Pakistan elders | Suicide bomb hits Pakistan elders |
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At least 15 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a meeting of tribal elders in a restive region of Pakistan near the Afghan border. | At least 15 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a meeting of tribal elders in a restive region of Pakistan near the Afghan border. |
Dozens were injured in the blast at a council of local leaders in the Orakzai district, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions. | |
They were meeting to raise a militia to to evict Taleban from the region when the attack took place. | |
Orakzai, near the main north-west city of Peshawar, has been relatively calm. | |
"We were busy in raising a lashkar [tribal militia] to evict Taleban from the region when this attack took place," Qeemat Khan Orakzai, a member of the council, told Reuters news agency. | "We were busy in raising a lashkar [tribal militia] to evict Taleban from the region when this attack took place," Qeemat Khan Orakzai, a member of the council, told Reuters news agency. |
The attacker targeted a gathering of about 500 people from the Alizai tribe on Friday, according to AP news agency. | |
A security official told AFP news agency that the suicide attack came a day after armed tribesmen had targeted two militant hideouts. | |
Pro-Taleban militants on the Pakistan side of the border have been blamed for a rise in attacks on US and Nato troops in Afghanistan. | Pro-Taleban militants on the Pakistan side of the border have been blamed for a rise in attacks on US and Nato troops in Afghanistan. |
Pakistan's government has been courting the fiercely independent tribes to persuade them to stand up to the insurgents. |