[Dawn] A bomb killed at least five people and maimed three others on Wednesday in Pakistain's northwest tribal badlands bordering Afghanistan, officials said.The deaths occurred in Gatcheena village, 30 kilometres northwest of Khar, the main town of lawless Bajaur district, after a bomb planted at a village meeting place exploded remotely.
"At least five people were killed after a bomb went
kaboom!at an elders meeting," local government official Tariq Khan told AFP.
"Three others were maimed in the blast and there were about a dozen people present," Khan said, adding that the people might have been targeted because they supported government efforts against Taliban-linked militancy.
Another government official and an intelligence official confirmed the bombing and casualties, but the precise identities of the dead were unclear.
Bajaur was the scene of major anti-Taliban offensives in August 2008 and in February 2009, and the military has repeatedly declared the district secure.