Pakistan tribes raze Taliban houses after bombing
KOHAT, Oct 11 (Reuters)
Angry Pakistani tribesmen traded fire with Taliban militants and
demolished their houses in a northwestern tribal region after a car
suicide attack killed at least 40 people, residents and officials said
on Saturday.
Television channels put the death toll at as high as 70.
The bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the middle of a tribal
council meeting in Orakzai tribal region on Friday where hundreds of
tribesmen were discussing a government-backed plan to raise a lashkar or
tribal militia to evict militants.
Pakistan’s tribal areas on the Afghan border are regarded as safe
havens for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, and the government is under
tremendous pressure from the United States to take stern action to stem
the flow of insurgents to Afghanistan.
“Everyone is angry and upset here. The tribesmen attacked houses of
the Taliban in Khadizai after the bombing. Two houses have been
demolished,” Noorzad Orakzai, a resident of the Khadizai area where
attack took place, told Reuters by telephone.
“There have been exchanges of fire throughout the night. It’s still
going on,” he added.
Jehanzeb Siddique, a senior government official dealing with tribal
areas, told Reuters that they had confirmation of 40 deaths from the car
bombing.
Other officials said the death toll could rise further as many of the
nearly 100 wounded people were in critical condition while several
bodies were still unidentified.
The attack in Orakzai came a day after a suicide blast inside the
heavily guarded police headquarters in the capital Islamabad in which
eight policemen were wounded.
Orakzai has been the most peaceful of Pakistan’s seven
semi-autonomous tribal regions. Unlike most of the others, Orakzai does
not border Afghanistan.
Militants have unleashed a wave of violence in Pakistan in recent
months after the military launched major offensives against them in the
rugged northwest including Bajaur and Swat regions.
JOINT SESSION
The mounting militant threat prompted the government to convene a
closed joint session of the two-chambered parliament for a briefing by
intelligence officials on internal security.
The parliamentarians are due to begin debate on the situation after
Pakistan’s newly appointed intelligence chief briefed them this week on
the militant threat.
But a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman criticised U.S. missile
attacks into Pakistan, saying it will stoke public anger.
Since the start of September the United States has carried out at
least nine missile attacks, the latest on Thursday night, and a commando
raid on militant targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
“Such strikes will fuel anti-American sentiments which will neither
beneficial for us nor for the United States,” foreign ministry spokesman
Mohammad Sadiq said.
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