Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Suicide bomb attack kills 11 near Pakistan tribal region: witnesses

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, March 26, IRNA - A suicide bomber blew himself up among the people in a restaurant near a Pakistani tribal region on Thursday, killing at least 11 people, witnesses said.

The bomber targeted people from a tribal group at Jandola, a main town near South Waziristan tribal region, they said.

The state television reported five deaths.

The bomber hit people from a local militant group known as ‘Turkistan’, who are opposed to Baitullah Mehsood, the chief of Pakistani Taliban.

The Turkistan faction belongs to major ‘Batini’ tribesmen, who are dominant in Jandola area, lying on the main road to Wana, the center of South Waziristan.

The Turkistan group and another faction “Abdullah Mehsood’ group announced alliance in January to oppose the Baitullah group.

Witnesses said the injured were taken by the locals to hospital in Tank, the major city in the region, in their private vehicles.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. But the Turkistan group blames the Baitullah group for the attack.

Last year a suicide bomber had struck a jirga of Bitini tribe, killing over 20 people.

Witnesses said that supporters of the Turkistan group were sitting in a restaurant namely “Rasool Dar” in the main Jandola bazaar when the bomber entered the restaurant and exploded his bomb.

Witnesses said that 11 persons died on the spot and 12 others were injured who were taken to hospital in Tank city.