Pakistan

A suicide attack at a mosque in the northwest kills at least 30

Article published on the 2009-06-05 Latest update 2009-06-05 15:20 TU

US special representative Richard Holbrooke visits the Shah Mansoor camp for IDPs from Swat Valley, 4 June 2009.
(Photo: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood)

At least thirty people were killed during Friday prayers in a village in Upper Dir district. Police fear the death toll could rise. Upper Dir District is near Swat District where the army is trying to flush out Taliban militants. The attack comes as US special envoy Richard Holbrooke is visiting Pakistan.

The bomb exploded at a mosque in a remote village called Hayagai Shargai, in Upper Dir, which borders the District of Swat.

The Pakistani military military focused its air and ground assault against the Taliban.  The police chief of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) confirmed the death toll at around thirty, but said the figure may rise because people are still trapped under the debris. There was no claim of responsibility for the attacked.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Pakistan in a wave of extremist bombings across the country, since government troops besieged gunmen in the radical 'Red' mosque  (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad, in July 2007.

The military launched an attack on the militants in Swat Valley last month, and says more than 1,200 militants and 90 soldiers have been killed since then.

The attack comes as US envoy, Richard Holbrooke is visiting Pakistan for talks on prospects in the country if and when the army eliminates the Taliban in its current offensive.

On Thursday, Holbrooke visited camps for displaced people, fleeing the fighting in Swat. Aid agencies are warning that supplies for them could run out within weeks. Another 20,000 are expected to arrive from the battle zone in the coming days.