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Suicide attack in busy market in S Waziristan, one killed
A suicide bomber struck a market in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region of northwest Pakistan today, killing one person and injuring 16 others, officials said.
A suicide bomber struck a market in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region of northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing one person and injuring 16 others, officials said.
The attacker blew himself up near the office of a "peace committee" or anti-Taliban militia in the market in Shakai town. The market was packed with people shopping for sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha festival.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The injured were airlifted in a military helicopter to Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, state-run PTV reported.
Eight of the injured are in a critical condition. A leader of the peace committee was present in the office when the bomber struck.
The Pakistan Army conducted a major operation in South Waziristan Agency last year to flush Taliban fighters out of the area bordering Afghanistan. Shakai was considered a Taliban stronghold till it was cleared by the army.
A spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban recently said that militants had returned to South Waziristan and would launch attacks on security forces and pro-government tribal elders.
