Islamabad: A suicide bomber targeted a
mosque inside a base of a terror group in the Khyber tribal
region of northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing 13 people, a
majority of them militants, and injuring several others.
The attacker struck at the time of Friday prayers at
the base the banned Lashkar-e-Islam in the remote Tirah
Valley, which borders Afghanistan.
The blast ripped through the mosque-cum-madrassa, killing
13 people instantly, officials of the political administration
told the media.
The bomber detonated his explosive vest when some
Lashkar-e-Islam militants intercepted him and opened fire.
Eight members of Lashkar-e-Islam were among the dead.
According to one report, the attacker was trying to plant
a bomb, which went off when the Lashkar-e-Islam men opened
fire.
The Lashkar-e-Islam base is run by Yar Walil Khan, the
nephew of the group`s chief, Mangal Bagh Afridi.
The fate of Yar Wali Khan could not immediately be
ascertained.
A spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
claimed responsibility for the attack in phone calls to the
media in northwest Pakistan.
The Lashkar-e-Islam and the Taliban have been engaged in
a turf war in Khyber Agency for over a year.
The same mosque was targeted by the Lashkar-e-Islam’s
rivals on February 18 last year.
At least 30 people were killed and over 70 injured in
that attack.
The latest attack came exactly three weeks after a
suicide bombing at another Lashkar-e-Islam mosque in Tirah
killed 22 people after Friday prayers.
PTI
