Officials: Bomb blast kills up to 11 people in northwest Pakistani tribal area

Officials: Bomb blast kills up to 11 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bomb blast killed as many as 11 people Thursday in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt, underscoring the persistent threat of Islamist militants despite army offensives against them, officials said.

The explosion came as U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pakistan’s prime minister in the capital, Islamabad, to discuss ways to enhance the countries’ cooperation in the battle against militancy.

There were conflicting accounts of the precise location and target of the blast.

Local government official Liaquat Khan said at least 11 died and 50 people were wounded in a cattle market in the Darmela area of Orakzai tribal region. But another official, Jawed Khan, said only six deaths were confirmed in the incident, which may have hit a mosque in Khyber tribal region’s Aka Khel area.

The officials had reports of just one blast, but the two areas mentioned are near each other. They also are remote, dangerous territories, making it difficult to get solid information quickly.

Khalid Khan Umerzai, commissioner of the nearby Kohat district, said initial reports suggest members of the Lashker-e-Islam militant group were among those hit at the mosque. Lashkar-e-Islam has a rivalry with another insurgent group in Khyber, Ansarul Islam.

Officials were still investigating whether the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber or a planted device.

Pakistan has suffered numerous bombings over the last few months, many of them apparently in retaliation for the army operation against the Pakistani Taliban the South Waziristan tribal region. Though militants tend to target security forces, many of the recent attacks have been at civilian-heavy sites, including markets catering to women and children.

The U.S. has pressed Pakistan to go after militants who use its soil to launch attacks on Western troops across the border in Afghanistan as well as those insurgents opposed to the Pakistani state.

The Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes against several targets in Orakzai in recent weeks after it appeared many Pakistani Taliban fighters had fled there from South Waziristan.

The latest blast also comes just days after it was revealed that a joint Pakistani-CIA operation had captured the Afghan Taliban’s No. 2 official, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

Afzal reported from Parachinar, Pakistan.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects day of bombing to Thursday in lede. RECASTS throughout with new information that blast may have been in Khyber)