At least six people were killed and three others injured when two roadside bomb blasts hit a passenger van and motorbike in the restive northwest Friday, officials said.
“The incident occurred in Chinori village of the Orakzai tribal district (around 75 miles northwest of Peshawar), the target was the son of a peace committee chief”, said a local administration official.
Khushal Khan, a senior administration official, confirmed the incident.
“The first blast hit the motorbike, killing the son of the anti-Taliban peace militia and injuring his friend, while the second blast hit a passenger van killing five people”, Khan told AFP.
Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a split-away faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar accepts the responsibility of this attack, this attack was carried out to avenge the tyranny and humiliation that have been enforced upon oppressed Muslims by these apostate thugs,” spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a statement emailed to the media.
Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
In June the army began a long-awaited offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal area, after a bloody raid on Karachi Airport ended faltering peace talks between the government and the Taliban.
Pakistan’s army says it has killed more than 1,000 militants and lost 86 soldiers since the start of the operation.
The number and identity of those killed is difficult to verify as there is little regular media access to the conflict zone. (AFP)
