PESHAWAR, 3 March 2008 — At least 35 people were killed and dozens wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of tribal elders and local officials in northwest Pakistan yesterday.
The attack was the third in as many days in Pakistan, posing an immediate challenge to the country’s incoming government, set to be a coalition led by the parties of slain ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto and former Premier Nawaz Sharif.
Hundreds of people have died across the northwest of the country in recent months in clashes between pro-Taleban militants and security forces and in a wave of suicide attacks blamed on the extremist rebels.
Yesterday’s blast took place in Zarghon village near the lawless town of Darra Adam Khel, the scene of deadly fighting between Pakistani troops and militants in January, said local security official Shireen Khan.
President Pervez Musharraf “strongly condemned” the suicide attack and termed it “an attempt to sabotage the peace process,” as the tribesmen had gathered to discuss the restoration of peace in the area.
Hundreds of elders from five tribes had convened a traditional council, known as a “jirga,” to discuss “efforts to check growing Taleban activity in the area,” according to a local administration official.
“The jirga was in session in an open ground when a young man came running and blew himself,” added Haji Akbar Afridi.
“The suicide bomber was an 18-year-old boy. His face is recognizable and initial investigations indicate he was a resident of Darra Adam Khel,” a senior local official said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Officials say Darra Adam Khel — known for its weapons bazaar and illegal arms factories — had recently become a stronghold of the banned Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is said to have links to Al-Qaeda.
In January, Pakistani forces mounted a major offensive to clear insurgents from a major road tunnel in the area. At least 13 soldiers and 50 militants were killed in the heavy fighting.
On Friday, a suicide bomber killed at least 44 people in the town of Mingora in the northwestern Swat Valley and on Saturday another bomber rammed his car into a security vehicle in lawless Bajaur tribal district, killing two people, local officials said.
Also, last week, the army’s top medical officer, Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Baig, was killed in a suicide attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The military said that attack was likely in retaliation for army offensives against extremists operating in lawless areas near the border with Afghanistan.
Baitullah Mehsud, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant commander based in the tribal area of South Waziristan, is accused by the Pakistan government and the United States’ CIA of masterminding the December assassination of Benazir.
The Al-Qaeda-linked militant commander was formally charged on Saturday with plotting the former premier’s murder.
Meanwhile, six people, mostly Afghan refugees, were killed in an explosion in the southwestern district of Qila Saifullah yesterday.
The police chief of Balochistan province, Saud Gohar, said the blast was caused by explosives stored in a shop and was “apparently... not an act of terrorism.”
Last year, about 2,000 people were killed in militant-related violence across Pakistan, seen as the front-line in the US-led “war on terror.”
— With input from agencies
