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By HUSSAIN AFZAL
The Associated Press
Monday, August 23, 2010; 9:32 AM PARACHINAR, Pakistan -- Three bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan - two
in tribal regions near the Afghan border and a third near the region's
main city of Peshawar - killed at least 36 people Monday, officials and
a witness said.
The attack on the outskirts of Peshawar killed the leader of an
anti-Taliban militia, Israr Khan, and two aides as he passed through a
market in the village of Matni, said police official Khurshid Khan.
Three more people were injured. The government supplies a string of militias with arms and money to
fight the Taliban militants. The deadliest blast was a suicide attack at a mosque inside a religious
school in South Waziristan that killed 26 people and injured 40 more,
said an intelligence official in the region. He spoke on condition of
anonymity in line with the orders set down by his agency. He said Maulana Noor Mohammad, a former lawmaker who ran the school, was
among the dead. Yar Mohammad, a local tribesman who was present inside the mosque, also
said it was a suicide blast. There was no claim of responsibility, though Islamist militants have
often attacked clerics or others who do not support them. It was unclear
whether Mohammad fell into that category. Militant and tribal factions
also fight among themselves. Earlier, a bomb exploded inside a school during a meeting of elders in
Kurram tribal region, killing seven people. Local official Khalid Umerzai said the elders at the meeting were
discussing a disagreement over ownership of the school building. It
wasn't clear if the blast was tied to that dispute or if it had been
launched by Islamist militants. The army has launched offensives in South Waziristan and Kurram over the
last 18 months. There is little or no government presence in either area. South Waziristan was affected by the floods that have swept Pakistan
over the past month, with 18 bridges washed away and about three dozen
deaths in the tribal area.
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