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.

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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.