Suicide bomber wounds nine

A suicide bomber on Sunday blew himself up at a busy marketplace in a tribal area of northwestern Pakistan, wounding nine people, officials said.

A suicide bomber on Sunday blew himself up at a busy marketplace in a tribal area of northwestern Pakistan, wounding nine people, officials said.

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The bombing took place in Shakai village in troubled South Waziristan district, which lies near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. A senior security source and local intelligence officials confirmed the incident.

Tribal administration official Sajjad Ahmad said that nine people were wounded at the local market, filled with shoppers buying goats and cows to sacrifice on the Islamic Eid holiday this week.

Pakistan launched a major ground and air offensive in South Waziristan last year to clear the area of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) faction, which has been blamed for some of the country's worst violence.

Washington has branded the tribal belt a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth.