A SUICIDE bomber killed at least 50 worshippers attending Friday prayers yesterday at a mosque near the Afghan border, in the bloodiest attack in Pakistan this year.
The blast, which also injured 80 people, took place in a mosque on the Khyber Pass, just hours before Barack Obama, the US president, unveiled America's revised strategy to "disrupt, defeat and dismantle" al-Qaeda and Taleban terrorists operating in
Afghanistan and the north-west of Pakistan.
The mosque, in the village of Baghiani, lies on the main road about 20 miles from the Afghan border. Lorries use the route to carry supplies to the expanding US-led force in Afghanistan. It is also popular with travellers motoring between the countries.
The bomber struck as the mosque leader was starting the communal prayer, according to witnesses. About 250 people are thought to have been inside. Police officers manning a neighbouring tribal checkpoint were reportedly among the victims.
"As the prayer leader said 'God is great', the bomb went off with a big bang," said Nadir Shah, a paramilitary soldier attending the mosque. "I felt it was the end of everything. Sometime later when I opened my eyes, I was lying among dead bodies."
No-one has claimed responsibility for the blast. But the Taleban are suspected to have carried out a string of attacks on lorries and transport depots along the route in recent months, destroying scores of military vehicles and raising doubts about the reliability of the supply line.
The area has also been beset by feuds between rival tribal and militant groups – some loosely allied with the government, others close to the Taleban – which have included suicide bombings and attacks on mosques.
A government official accused Islamist militants of carrying out yesterday's bombing in revenge for a recent offensive aimed in part at protecting the Khyber Pass.
"Residents of this area had cooperated and helped us a lot. These infidels had warned that they will take revenge," said Tariq Hayat, the top administrator of the Khyber tribal region. "They are the enemy of Pakistan. They are the enemy of Islam." He fears the death toll may increase to 70.
Rising violence in Pakistan is fuelling doubts about the pro-western government's ability to counter Taleban and al-Qaeda militants, who are also blamed for attacks on western troops in Afghanistan.
Television footage showed scores of residents and police officers digging frantically by hand through the ruins of the white-walled mosque. The roof had collapsed in the explosion.
Rescuers hauled bodies covered in dust and blood on blankets and scarves toward ambulances and private cars waiting to take them to hospital.
Frustrated at Pakistan's failure to gain control of the border belt, the US has carried out an intense campaign of missile strikes into the region since last year. Asif Ali Zardari, the president, yesterday reiterated Pakistan's opposition to the strikes, apparently carried out by unmanned CIA aircraft. The government says the attacks fuel anti-American feeling and undermine its own effort to isolate extremists.
The full article contains 510 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
