45 killed in Pakistan aid-center bombing

KHAR, Pakistan - A burqa-clad female suicide bomber in Pakistan lobbed hand grenades, then detonated her explosive belt among a crowd at an aid center Saturday, killing at least 45 people in militants' latest strike against the authorities' control over the key tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack killed 45 people, including six policemen, and wounded more than 100, at least 30 critically, said Tariq Khan, an official in the Bajur region. Police said the victims were waiting at the center in the town of Khar to collect food tokens distributed by the World Food Program and other agencies. The people had been displaced by an offensive against Taliban militants in the Bajur region in early 2009.

Police believed it was the first time Islamic militants have sent a woman to carry out a suicide attack in Pakistan, where the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents continues to spill over despite Islamabad's repeated claims of victory on its side of the porous border.

The bomber, dressed in a traditional head-to-toe burqa, was challenged by police at a check point, officials said. She then charged toward a group of 300 people lined up outside the aid distribution center, tossing two hand grenades before blowing herself up, officials said.

Male suicide bombers often don women's burqa, which also covers the face, as a disguise. In 2007, officials initially claimed Pakistan's first female suicide bomber had killed 14 people in the northwest town of Bannu, but that attacker was later identified as a man. Islamic militants in Iraq have used female bombers.

President Barack Obama, in Hawaii for Christmas, condemned the bombing as "outrageous." He added: "Killing innocent civilians outside a World Food Program distribution point is an affront to the people of Pakistan, and to all humanity."

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide attack in Khar, through its spokesman, Azam Tariq.

The attack came a day after 150 militants waged pitched gun battles on five security posts in the adjourning Mohmand tribal region to the south. The fighting, which left 11 soldiers and 24 militants dead, was an unusually strong show of strength by insurgents in border country that the military has twice claimed to have cleaned of militants. Helicopter gunships backed by artillery pounded enemy hide-outs Saturday, killing another 40 militants, an official said.