Blast kills anti-Taliban tribal elder, 5 others in Pakistan

An anti-Taliban tribal elder and five other people were killed and five injured in a bomb blast in northwest Pakistan's tribal region on Saturday, officials said.

The roadside bomb was exploded near the vehicle of members of the anti-Taliban peace committee at Ghalanai, the center of Mohmand tribal agency. The peace committee members were on routine patrolling when came under attack.

Dr. Shad Mohammad at the agency's headquarters hospital confirmed that five dead bodies were brought to the hospital. He said one injured is in critical condition.

Last month, suicide bomber killed nearly 105 people in Mohmand agency. Taliban had claimed responsibility for that attack. Members of the peace committee were present in the office of local administrator when the bomber struck the office.

Officials said the injured were later shifted to Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. An injured died of wounds in Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, doctors said.

One security personnel was also among those killed, an official said.

The government has formed peace committee against the Taliban- linked militants. Local tribesmen are members of the committee who say they will maintain peace in the area.

In some areas tribal peace committees or lashkar take action against the militants.

In another incident, suspected militants blew up a school in the tribal region of Darra Adam Khel.

Source: Xinhua