Suicide bomb kills 20 at funeral in Pakistan

Funeral of Bakhat Khan, a tribal leader opposed to the Taliban, targeted by bomber in ‘revenge’ attack near Afghan border A suicide bomber has attacked the funeral service of a Pakistani tribal leader opposed to the Taliban, killing at least 20 people. The blast took place in the Lower Dir region close to the Afghan border, and is the second such attack in days. About 200 mourners were attending the open-air funeral of Bakhat Khan when the bomber struck, police said. Many were wounded and were taken to hospital. Bakhat, who died of natural causes on Wednesday, was a member of a local “lashkar” or militia opposed to Taliban rule in the region. Tribesmen in the north west have formed a number of militias for which they receive limited government funding. They have had some success in stopping militant infiltration but are routinely hit by revenge attacks. Many of the bloodiest bombings of the last three years have targeted lashkar members or their families. On Monday Taliban gunmen killed four children as they returned from school close to the main north-western city of Peshawar. Islamist insurgents said the attack was aimed at stopping locals supporting a tribal militia. Pakistan Taliban Afghanistan Global terrorism guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.