DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A suicide blast outside the emergency ward of a hospital yesterday killed at least 32 people, including two policemen, officials said.

The Pakistani Taleban claimed responsibility for the blast in Dera Ismail Khan, saying it was targeting security forces. But others said the motive appeared to be sectarian, noting the area has experienced much friction between Sunnis and Shiites.

The attack occurred a day after Pervez Musharraf stepped down as Pakistan's president, adding to uncertainty about the new government’s approach to tackling extremist violence. It also came as more killings were reported in a northwest tribal region where military clashes with insurgents have reportedly killed hundreds and spurred threats of militant revenge.

Mohsin Shah, a top district official, said sectarian conflicts have spawned several targeted killings in recent weeks. He said a man shot earlier yesterday in the center of the city was taken to the hospital where he died from the wound.

“Dozens of people from the Shiite community had gathered at the hospital where the bomb went off,” Shah said.

“The death toll stands at 32 as some of the critically wounded died in the hospital late in the evening,” NWFP police chief Naveed Malik said, adding that 20 injured were under treatment.

D.I. Khan police chief Nasir Mahmood told The Associated Press, “I can confirm that it was a suicide blast,” Mahmood said, adding that authorities found what were believed to be the attacker’s legs. “We have begun an investigation to see how the attacker approached the mourners and what he looked like. We are collecting evidence.”

Maulvi Umar, spokesman for Pakistan's Taleban movement, claimed responsibility in an interview with the AP. He said the mourners were not the target of the blast.

“What we are seeing is no change in the Pakistan government policies after Musharraf,” Umar said, referring to ongoing military operations. “We want the government to change its policies. This is not a sectarian attack. We take its responsibility.”

A week ago, a bombing in the main northwest city of Peshawar destroyed an air force truck and killed up to 14 people. The Pakistani Taleban claimed they staged it in response to recent military offensives.

Blood, glass, shoes and body parts littered the scene at Dera Ismail Khan District Hospital, while weeping mourners, some beating their chests, shifted bodies. Murtajiz Hussain, 26, was soaked in blood as he helped remove bodies from the scene, and gave first aid to the wounded. “We have gathered at the hospital when a bomb went off,” he said. “Everybody was running recklessly. There was smoke everywhere.”

Pakistan’s northwest has been plagued for years with militant and sectarian violence.

Pakistan’s northwest tribal regions along the Afghan border, meanwhile, are considered havens for Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, many of whom are believed involved in attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, the military has battled insurgents in the Bajaur tribal region.

Yesterday, police said security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery pounded targeted insurgents in the area, killing 11 suspected militants and five civilians over a 24-hour period.

Security forces stepped up the shelling after militants attacked a paramilitary post at Mamad Gatt near the Afghan border, said Fazal Rabbi, a police commander in Bajaur. He said he did not know if any of the paramilitary troops were killed.

Separately, government official Jamil Khan said 13 militants and five paramilitary troops died yesterday in a clash at a fort in the Nawagai area of Bajaur. Officials say the Bajaur operation has killed nearly 500 people and displaced more than 200,000. There has been no independent confirmation of the casualties in the remote area, where the government has limited control and few journalists venture because of its security.

Also yesterday, a man was killed and five others were wounded when two mortar shells hit two houses in separate incidents in the Matta area of Swat Valley, another northwestern region that has experienced militant violence. The wounded, including a woman in critical condition, were taken to a nearby hospital, said police official Farman Khan.