Peshawar: A suicide bomber struck a market in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region of northwest Pakistan Sunday, killing one person and injuring 16 others, officials said.
The attacker blew himself up near the office of a "peace committee" or anti-Taliban militia in the market in Shakai town.
The market was packed with people shopping for sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha festival.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The injured were airlifted in a military helicopter to Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, state-run PTV reported.
Eight of the injured are in a critical condition. A leader of the peace committee was present in the office when the bomber struck.
The Pakistan Army conducted a major operation in South Waziristan Agency last year to flush Taliban fighters out of the area bordering Afghanistan.
Shakai was considered a Taliban stronghold till it was cleared by the army.
A spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban recently said that militants had returned to South Waziristan and would launch attacks on security forces and pro-government tribal elders.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010, 18:27