Pak Woman suicide bomber target UN aid centre

Pakistan's first woman suicide bomber on Saturday targeted a UN aid distribution centre in the volatile tribal belt in the country's northwest, killing 46 people and injuring over 70 others.The bomber,who was clad in a burqa, lobbed a grenade and then detonated her explosives when she was stopped at a checkpoint near a World Food Programme centre in Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur tribal region.Bajaur Agency's tehsildar Sohail Khan confirmed that the attack was carried out by a woman."The bomber was a woman who detonated her suicide vest when she was stopped by security personnel for a search," Khan said.

A woman scream before the explosives went off.There have been instances of male bombers disguising themselves in a burqa but no women have been involved in the scores of suicide attacks witnessed across Pakistan over the past three years.Forty-one people were killed instantly and five more succumbed to their injuries in hospitals in Khar and Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Over 70 people were injured and those in a serious condition were airlifted to Peshawar. Women, children and aged men were among the dead and injured, officials said.Hundreds of people displaced or affected by an anti-Taliban operation launched by the army had gathered at the UN food agency's centre in Khar to receive aid at the time of the attack.Most of the victims were members of the Salarzai tribe, which backed the army's offensive against Taliban and formed a 'lashkar' or militia to flush militants out of Bajaur.

Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mohmand Agency claimed responsibility of the attack and warned to carry out more attacks to avenge the drone strikes.Over 70 people were injured and those in a serious condition were airlifted to Peshawar. Women, children and aged men were among the dead and injured, officials said.Hundreds of people displaced or affected by an anti-Taliban operation launched by the army had gathered at the UN food agency's centre in Khar to receive aid at the time of the attack.Most of the victims were members of the Salarzai tribe, which backed the army's offensive against Taliban and formed a 'lashkar' or militia to flush militants out of Bajaur.

Local media said that around 300 people displaced during fight against militancy in the area were present at the WFP office to receive food and rations when the attack took place Official sources said that WFP office was delivering food to 600 to 700 local people daily.Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, who claimed responsibility for the attack in Bajaur, though did not verify involvement of female suicide bomber, yet he claimed that they had dozens of trained women, who were ready to lay down their lives.Reports DAWN