Woman bomber kills 45 at aid centre in Pakistan

The bomber,dressed in the head-to-toe burqa that women commonly wear in Pakistan and Afghanistan,was challenged by police at a check point,officials said. She then charged toward about 300 people lined up outside the food aid distribution centre in Khar,tossing two hand grenades before blowing herself up,officials said. The victims were people who have fled conflicts elsewhere in the area.

The attack came a day after 150 militants waged gun battles against five security posts in the adjourning Mohmand tribal region,leaving 11 soldiers and 24 militants dead. Helicopter gunships backed by artillery continued the battle on Saturday,pounding enemy hideouts and killing another 40 militants,a government official said.

The tribal regions are of concern to the US as they have been safe havens for militants fighting NATO and American troops across the border in Afghanistan. The US has long pressured Pakistan to clear the tribal belt of the insurgents.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday’s suicide attack through its spokesman,Azam Tariq. He suggested the victims may have been targeted because most of them belonged to the Salarzai tribe,which was among the first to set up a militia — known as a lashkar — to fight the Taliban.

“All anti-Taliban forces are our target,” he said. “We will strike whenever we have a chance.”

The attack killed 45 people,including six policemen,and wounded over 100,said Tariq Khan,a Bajur government official.

Police said the victims were from Bajur who gather daily at the centre to collect food tokens distributed by the World Food Program and other agencies to conflict-affected people. The people were displaced by an Army offensive against Taliban in early 2009.

Islamist militants have attacked buildings providing humanitarian aid in Pakistan before,presumably because they are symbols of the government and the West.

Tariq Khan said an examination of the human remains has confirmed the bomber was a woman.

Akbar Jan,45,who sustained leg wounds,said people were lining up for the ration coupons at the time of attack. “We thought someone fired a rocket,” he said,adding that within seconds he saw the ground strewn with the wounded.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bombing and said Pakistanis are “united against them.”