Leaders vow defiance as attack toll nears 100

Tribal elders in a Pakistani village where a suicide car bomber killed nearly 100 people today insisted that residents will keep defying the Taliban.

The New Year’s Day attack on the north-west village of Shah Hasan Khel was one of the deadliest in a surge of bombings that has killed more than 600 across Pakistan since October.

Police believe the attacker meant to detonate his 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of explosives at a meeting of tribesmen who supervise an anti-Taliban militia.

Instead, the blast went off at a nearby outdoor volleyball court, killing at least 96 people.

The explosion levelled some three dozen mud-brick homes and covered the village with dust, smoke and the smell of burning flesh.

Today numerous homes received visitors offering condolences and funeral prayers were held.

Many of the residents in the village of 5,000, which lies near Pakistan’s militant-filled tribal belt, were too scared to name any possible culprits, but others were defiant.

“The people are in severe grief and fear – it is a demoralising thing,” said Raham Dil Khan, a rifle-toting, 70-something member of the tribal council.

“We want the government to provide security, but one thing is very clear: The committee will stand against every type of terrorism and despite this great loss we will continue our work.”

None of the elders at the gathering was killed. The 28-member council had been debating punishing relatives of militants suspected in the recent killing of a fellow tribal leader, Mr Khan said.

The militia in Shah Hasan Khel has about 1,000 members, essentially all the adult males in the village, but tribal elders said residents needed more support - including weapons – from the government.

“Such attacks will only strengthen our resolve – being Pashtun, revenge is the only answer to the gruesome killings,” said Mushtaq Khan, 50, the head of the tribal council.

Shah Hasan Khel lies in Lakki Marwat district near South Waziristan, where the army has been waging an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban since October.

The military operation was undertaken with the backing of the US, which is eager for Pakistan to free its tribal belt of militants believed to be involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.

But the offensive has provoked apparent reprisal attacks across the country. Those behind the strikes appear increasingly willing to hit targets beyond security forces. No group claimed responsibility for yesterday’s blast, but that is not uncommon when many civilians die.

Authorities said about 300 people were on or near the volleyball court, including security personnel.

Local administrator Asmatullah Khan said that 90 bodies had been identified, while six remained unknown. Thirty-six people were being treated at nearby medical centres.