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Suicide bomb hits Pakistan elders Suicide bomb hits Pakistan elders
(about 3 hours later)
At least 15 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack at a meeting of tribal elders in a restive region of Pakistan near the Afghan border. At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack 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. More than 60 people were injured, many of them critically, in the blast. The number of dead is expected to rise.
They were meeting to raise a militia to evict Taleban from the region. Elders in the Orakzai semi-autonomous tribal region were meeting to raise a militia to evict Taleban from the area.
In recent weeks, local tribesmen have taken up arms to fight the Taleban alongside the Pakistan army. In recent weeks, tribesmen in the north-west have taken up arms to fight the Taleban alongside Pakistani troops.
Orakzai, near the main north-west city of Peshawar, has been relatively calm. Orakzai, near the main north-west city of Peshawar, has been relatively calm in recent months.
The BBC's Shoaib Hasan, in Pakistan, says the suicide bomber drove his car into the meeting of 600 people which was being held in open ground and blew himself up. But other parts of the north-west have seen sustained military operations by Pakistani troops against militants in the regions of Bajaur and Swat.
"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. There have also been an upsurge in cross-border attacks against suspected militant targets in Pakistan by US forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan says these are undermining its efforts in the "war on terror".
'Revenge''Revenge'
Those present at Friday's meeting in Orakzai said the suicide bomber drove his car into the gathering of 600 people which was being held in open ground and blew himself up.
We were discussing plans to take action against the militants when all of a sudden a man drove a car into the middle of the meeting... and then blew it up Tribal elder Qeemat Khan Orakzai
"We were busy 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.
"I fell down unconscious. When I woke up, I saw dead and wounded around me."
A security official told AFP news agency: "The tribesmen blew up two hideouts of the militants a day earlier and it is possible this attack was in revenge for their actions."A security official told AFP news agency: "The tribesmen blew up two hideouts of the militants a day earlier and it is possible this attack was in revenge for their actions."
The attack also comes a day after the Taleban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a building belonging to an anti-terror squad in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad's main police complex. The attack also comes a day after the Taleban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a building belonging to an anti-terror squad in the capital Islamabad's main police complex.
They are also suspected to have been behind a roadside bombing in Dir in North West Frontier Province which killed at least 10 people, four of them schoolgirls.
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 allied with some of the fiercely independent tribes against the insurgents and they are currently taking on the militants in the Bajaur tribal region.Pakistan's government has allied with some of the fiercely independent tribes against the insurgents and they are currently taking on the militants in the Bajaur tribal region.
The Taleban has killed dozens of tribal elders they accuse of backing the government in recent years using roadside bombs, executions and suicide bombings. The Taleban has killed dozens of tribal elders they accuse of backing the government in recent years.
America has increased strikes in Bajaur and other tribal areas on the Afghan border, targeting suspected militants.
The Pakistani army has denounced the raids. It fears they will make the tribes switch sides, and turn the emerging anti-Taleban sentiment into an anti-American one.
"We want them [the US] to realise that these attacks are destabilising the situation, and they are not helping them or Pakistan," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said on Friday.
"They are helping the terrorists."