Pak attack warning to anti-Taliban tribes

A northwest Pakistani village that tried to resist Taliban infiltration mourned the victims Saturday of an apparent revenge suicide bombing that killed 88 residents during a volleyball game....

A northwest Pakistani village that tried to resist Taliban infiltration mourned the victims Saturday of an apparent revenge suicide bombing that killed 88 residents during a volleyball game.

The attack on the outskirts of Lakki Marwat city was one of the deadliest in recent Pakistani history and sent a bloody New Year’s message to Pakistanis who dare take on the armed Islamist extremists. As villagers held funeral services and rescuers searched rubble for more bodies,many in the area were too terrified to

speculate on who staged the assault.

The suicide bomber detonated some 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of high-intensity explosives on the crowded field in Shah Hasan Khel village during a volleyball tournament held Friday near a meeting of anti-Taliban elders. The elders,who had helped set up an anti-Taliban militia in the area,were probably the actual target,police said.

Lakki Marwat district is near South Waziristan,a tribal region where the army has been battling 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. The offensive has provoked apparent reprisal attacks that had already killed more than 500 people in Pakistan before Friday’s blast.

Militants have struck all across the nuclear-armed country,and they appear increasingly willing to hit groups beyond security forces. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s blast.