Suicide bombings kill 50 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Two militants wearing vests studded with explosives and bullets blew themselves up yesterday outside a government-backed meeting of anti-Taliban tribesmen close to the Afghan border, killing 50 people and wounding 100 others.

The strike in Mohmand region underscored the tenacity of the Islamist uprising in the northwest despite Pakistani army offensives over the past 2 1/2 years. The operations have retaken areas where militants enjoyed safe haven, but authorities have struggled to hold onto the gains.

The tribally administered region is home to thousands of militants staging or supporting attacks on American troops fighting a related insurgency in Afghanistan. It also houses al-Qaida leaders and operatives from around the world plotting attacks on the West.

The United States is squeezing the insurgents with missiles fired from unmanned drones. In the most recent strike, seven people were killed yesterday in a different part of the tribal area from where the suicide bombing took place, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The Pakistani army has supported the creation of tribal militias against the militants, but the groups have been ruthlessly attacked. On three separate occasions this year suicide bombers killed more than 65 people attending meetings between officials and tribesmen, who are typically paid for attending.

The attackers yesterday wore the uniforms of local tribal police, allowing one of them to get inside the government compound and blow himself up, said regional political officer Amjad Ali Khan. Seconds later, another militant detonated his explosives at the gate, said Khan.

The dead and wounded included tribal elders, police, political officials and civilians, along with two television journalists reporting at the compound.