According to newspaper reports, a suicide bomber killed up to 50 people and wounded dozens in an attack outside the office of a senior government official in Pakistan's northwest, government and hospital officials said.
The bomber struck when people were gathered around the office in the Mohmand Pashtun tribal region near the Afghan border, where security forces have stepped up attacks on Taliban militants in recent weeks.
The bomber struck when people were gathered around the office in the tribal area's Yakaghund tehsil.
"There were two blasts. The first one was small but the second was a big one. Up to 46 people have been killed," Rasool Khan, the region's assistant political agent, told Reuters. The attack took place outside his office.
Hospital officials said nearly 80 people were being treated for multiple wounds, while government officials put the number of wounded at about 40.
Among the wounded were several internally displaced people, who were collecting relief goods near the blast site.
The blast also damaged several cars and about 30 shops, witnesses
said.
"It was a huge blast that flattened dozens of nearby shops
and people are still trapped under the rubble," a resident, identified
as Ahmed, told the private Express News TV channel.
Television
footage showed victims being pulled out of the debris.
A
security official at the scene said that blast also damaged a wall of a
nearby prison and at least 20 inmates had escaped.
The office
was targeted when some 100 people had gathered there to seek redress for
their problems.
The Bajaur-Peshawar road was also closed for traffic as rescue
operations continued.
The Pakistani army has carried out
operations against Taliban fighters in Mohmand in recent years
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