A pair of suicide bombers struck outside a government office Friday in a tribal region where the army has fought the Taliban, killing 62 people and wounding 111 in one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan this year.
The attack, possibly aimed at some anti-Taliban tribal elders, showed that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, despite army offensives and U.S. missile strikes aimed at wiping them out. Washington is watching closely how Pakistan handles its militant crisis, pushing the South Asian country to wage war on Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who use its territory to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.
The bombers detonated their explosives near the Yakaghund village office of Rasool Khan, a deputy administrator of the Mohmand tribal region, who escaped unharmed. A group of tribal elders, including those involved in setting up militias to fight the Taliban, were in the building at the time. None were hurt, according to Mohmand chief administrator Amjad Ali Khan.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 prisoners - ordinary criminals, not militants - to flee, Rasool Khan said. One of the bombs appeared fairly small but the other was huge, and they went off within seconds of each other, officials said. At least one bomber was on a motorcycle.
Video footage showed dozens of men searching through piles of yellow brick and mud rubble for survivors. Women and children were among the victims.
Near the attack site, officials had been distributing wheelchairs to disabled people and equipment to poor farmers, Amjad Ali Khan said. It was unclear how many participants in that event were among the victims.
Khan disputed reports that the aid was provided through US funding, saying it came from Pakistani government funds. However, US Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire confirmed that, on the previous day, Pakistani staff from a Washington-based contractor that receives USAID money had been giving out farm equipment in the village.
The staff of that contractor, AED or Academy for Educational Development, are staying in the area, but are not believed to have been the targets Friday.
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