KHAR, Pakistan – A powerful bomb ripped through a restaurant at a market in a northwestern Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing eight men and wounding 10 others, officials said.
The attack happened in the Salarzai area of troubled Bajur tribal region and two pro-government elders were also among the dead, according to local government official Israr Khan.
Khan said the bomb had been planted inside the restaurant, where the slain elders were sitting at the time.
A doctor, Mohammed Saeed, said the hospital received four bodies and that four wounded died shortly after arrival. He said they were also treating 10 wounded, some of them listed in critical condition.
No one has claimed responsibility, and the motive for the attack was not immediately known.
The Pakistani Taliban have in the past targeted tribal elders for setting up militia forces to fight the Taliban in Bajur.
Salarzai lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Khar which is the main town of Bajur.
The region is considered a militant stronghold and violence has continued there since last year, when the military claimed that it had defeated the Taliban and al-Qaida militants after more than a year of fighting.
The latest attack underscores the militants' ability to undermine the tribesmen, who have often sided with government troops in efforts to rout insurgents from the area.
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