Death toll in NW Pakistan blast climbs to 55

www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-11 17:05:26  

    ISLAMABAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) --

The death toll has climbed to 55 in the blast, which hit a jirga, or tribal elders' meeting, in northwestern Pakistan's tribal region, local TV reported on Saturday.

    The jirga of Ali Khel tribe was taking place on Friday when a suicide bomber attacked the tribesmen in Orakzai tribal agency on the Afghan border.

    The jirga, attended by up to 600 tribesmen, was convened to chalk out a strategy to expel Taliban fighters from the tribal region.

    No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

    Pakistan's security forces have been conducting operations against Taliban fighters in the tribal areas and some local tribesmen have voiced their support for the government's operations.

Editor: Lin Liyu

Pakistan condemns US strikes in border regions

10. October 2008, 12:20
By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –

U.S. missile attacks on (alleged Taliban fighters) in Pakistan's northwest near Afghanistan are helping them, the Muslim nation's Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The comments came as a suicide bomber attacked an anti-Taliban group in a northwest tribal area, killing at least 22 and wounding around 100 people. The Orakzai area tribesmen had gathered to plan the demolition of a Taliban base.

Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters have established bases throughout Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions, where they are said to plan attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan.

Washington has pushed Pakistan to eliminate such Taliban sanctuaries.

Pakistan has carried out military offensives against Taliban fighters while also trying to woo various tribes to turn against them. Some pro-government tribes have set up militias to fight them.

But in a sign of U.S. impatience with Pakistani efforts, American forces have stepped up their own cross-border assaults on alleged Taliban targets.

The U.S. is suspected in at least 11 missile strikes on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border since mid-August, killing more than 100 people, according to an Associated Press count based on figures provided by Pakistan intelligence officials. 

The United States rarely confirms or denies the attacks, which Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have criticized as violations of the country's sovereignty.

"We want them (the United States) to realize that these attacks are destabilizing the situation, and they are not helping them or Pakistan," Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told The AP.

The strikes are unpopular among many Pakistanis and used by critics to rally support in their campaign to unseat the country's broadly secular, pro-U.S. government.

The most recent alleged U.S. attack took place late Thursday in North Waziristan and killed at least nine people, They said they were trying to establish the identities of the victims.

The tribal regions also are considered potential hiding places for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and other non-Pakistani fighters.

Friday's suicide attack occurred in Orakzai, a tribal region near the main northwest city of Peshawar that has been relatively peaceful.

Some 500 people of the Alikhel tribe, which has set up a militia to fight Taliban, were gathered when the attacker struck. The tribesmen intended to destroy a major Taliban base, said Sher Akbar Khan, a government official. 

"Initial reports suggest that the suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the gathering," Khan said.

He said 17 people died at the scene or at a nearby hospital. Walayat Khan, an official at another hospital nearby, said five people died there. A senior government official, Kamran Zeb Kahn, said around 100 people were wounded in the blast, many of them critically.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the suicide attack in a statement.

Also Friday, government official Jamil Ahmed accused Taliban fighters of beheading four pro-government tribal elders Thursday in Bajur tribal region, the scene of the some of the heaviest fighting between Pakistani troops and Taliban fighters.