(TOI)
PESHAWAR. In the latest string of militant attacks, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral procession in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, killing at least 36 people and wounding more than 50 others.
The attack came a day after 25 people were killed and more than 120 injured in a car bomb explosion at a gas station in the city of Faisalabad.
Officials said the suicide bomber detonated his strapped explosives when around 100 men were offering funeral prayers for a woman relative of a member of an anti-Taliban militia at a lawless Adezai town on the outskirts of Peshawar.
"The bomber targeted the funeral of the daughter-in-law of Kalam Khan - a leader of the anti-Taliban tribal force in Adezai, six miles from Peshawar city," said Ijaz Khan, a senior police official.
"The suicide bomber walked into the crowd of mourners and detonated himself. That is why the casualties are so many," Khan said.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the support by local tribal militia of the ongoing anti-Taliban operation by Pakistan's security forces in the tribal region. Bloodied flesh, shoes and caps littered the scene of the attack. TV channels showed survivors and volunteers rushing the injured into hospitals.
The government raised several anti-Taliban militia groups spearheaded by Pashtun tribal elders in the region.
The area has already witnessed frequent Taliban attacks on police stations and security posts. A former head of the pro-government force, Abdul Malik, was also killed in a similar bombing in the area in 2009.
The recent escalation in terror attacks is indicative of the fact that the Pakistani Taliban have regrouped.
PESHAWAR. In the latest string of militant attacks, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral procession in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, killing at least 36 people and wounding more than 50 others.
The attack came a day after 25 people were killed and more than 120 injured in a car bomb explosion at a gas station in the city of Faisalabad.
Officials said the suicide bomber detonated his strapped explosives when around 100 men were offering funeral prayers for a woman relative of a member of an anti-Taliban militia at a lawless Adezai town on the outskirts of Peshawar.
"The bomber targeted the funeral of the daughter-in-law of Kalam Khan - a leader of the anti-Taliban tribal force in Adezai, six miles from Peshawar city," said Ijaz Khan, a senior police official.
"The suicide bomber walked into the crowd of mourners and detonated himself. That is why the casualties are so many," Khan said.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the support by local tribal militia of the ongoing anti-Taliban operation by Pakistan's security forces in the tribal region. Bloodied flesh, shoes and caps littered the scene of the attack. TV channels showed survivors and volunteers rushing the injured into hospitals.
The government raised several anti-Taliban militia groups spearheaded by Pashtun tribal elders in the region.
The area has already witnessed frequent Taliban attacks on police stations and security posts. A former head of the pro-government force, Abdul Malik, was also killed in a similar bombing in the area in 2009.
The recent escalation in terror attacks is indicative of the fact that the Pakistani Taliban have regrouped.
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