Burials after blast at anti-Taliban talks in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Tribesmen in northwestern Pakistan buried their dead on Saturday after a suicide attack killed at least 40 at a mass meeting called to tackle Taliban militancy in the area.
More than 2,000 tribesmen had gathered on open ground in the town of Ghaljo in Orakzai district Friday to discuss the creation of a lashkar (tribal force) to fight the Taliban rebels when the blast occurred.
The bombing was a setback to the Pakistan government's attempts to enlist fiercely independent ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in support of military operations against Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists in the lawless tribal regions.
One of about 100 people injured in the attack told AFP that he had seen the teenage bomber drive a pick-up truck laden with explosives to the edge of the crowd.
"I was sitting on the outside of the jirga (tribal council)," Hajji Kamal Shah, a tribal elder, said.
"I saw a young boy, perhaps only 15 or 16, driving a Datsun pick-up. He got to the crowd and then the vehicle exploded.
"People fell on the ground screaming. Some were children because all ages attended the meeting. We were discussing a tribal force against militants."
Shah sustained wounds to his feet and was taken to hospital in neighbouring Hangu.
The death toll rose to 40 after eight of the injured died overnight, local government official Afzal Khan said.
Many villages and towns near where the jirga was held were in mourning Saturday as they buried their dead, residents told AFP.
Taliban militants in the border regions close to Afghanistan have killed dozens of tribal elders whom they accuse of backing the government using roadside bombs, executions and suicide bombings.
The bodies of four pro-government tribal elders were founded beheaded on Saturday in the Bajaur tribal region where the army is fighting Al-Qaeda and extremist militants.
It was the second killing this week of tribal elders in Bajaur, where tribesmen have also been setting up armed forces to support the government's military campaign against Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
"This morning locals reported bodies of four tribal elders were lying on roadside," local administration official Mohammad Jamil told AFP, adding that the bodies showed extensive signs of torture.
Four other tribal elders were beheaded in Bajaur after they had attended a pro-government meeting on Thursday.
The army says more than 1,000 rebel fighters have been killed since it launched an offensive in Bajaur in early August, including Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the region, Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri.
But the United States has become increasingly frustrated at Pakistan's failure to tackle Taliban militants in the lawless tribal belt and in the adjoining North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.
In the latest of a series of strikes inside Pakistan, a US missile attack during the week targeted a high-level meeting of Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in the area, killing nine people but missing its prime targets.
