Suicide bombing kills 13, wounds 30 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR - The Associated Press

AP file photo

A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 13 mourners and wounding 30 others, police said.

The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.

Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Many hundreds have been killed over the last few years.

Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village. He said several of the wounded people were in critical condition.

"We are devastated," said Zahir Khan, 32, weeping while lying in a hospital bed. His elder brother died in the attack. He said they were chatting when the bomb went off. "I never knew I was going to lose my brother forever." Khan, the politician, comes from the secular-leaning Awami National Party that holds power in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He expressed his party's resolve to continue the struggle against militancy. "It is a fight for the country's survival," he said.

The Pakistani Taliban have targeted several of its leaders in the past. The party has supported various Pakistani military operations against the militants.

On Saturday, security forces claimed to have killed 39 militants in fighting in Bara district in Khyber tribal region, which is close to Peshawar and is the current focus of anti-Taliban operations. Four security force members were also killed, according to a brief statement from the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

The police said it was not yet clear whether the bombing could be a reaction to the latest fighting.