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| Dozens killed in Pakistan bombing | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Twenty-seven 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. | |
| Eighty-one people were injured, many of them critically, in the blast in the Orakzai semi-autonomous tribal region. | |
| The bomber struck as some 600 people held an open-air meeting to raise a militia to evict Taleban from the area. | |
| In recent weeks, tribesmen in the north-west have taken up arms to fight the Taleban alongside Pakistani troops. | 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 in recent months. | Orakzai, near the main north-west city of Peshawar, has been relatively calm in recent months. |
| But other parts of the north-west have seen sustained military operations by Pakistani troops against militants in the regions of Bajaur and Swat. | But other parts of the north-west have seen sustained military operations by Pakistani troops against militants in the regions of Bajaur and Swat. |
| There has 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". | 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 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 Shall we stand up to the Taleban?Villagers taking on the Taleban | 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 Shall we stand up to the Taleban?Villagers taking on the Taleban |
| "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. | "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." | "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 capital 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. |
| Pakistani troops want tribesmen to help them fight the militants | Pakistani troops want tribesmen to help them fight the militants |
| 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. | 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. |
| The Taleban has killed dozens of tribal elders they accuse of backing the government in recent years. | 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. | 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. | 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. | "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." | "They are helping the terrorists." |