By Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of local peace militias in the northwestern province of Khyber on Wednesday, killing seven and injuring two; officials and eyewitnesses have said.
Initial reports said that a young man aged between 20 and 25 blew himself up at a meeting of pro-government peace militias.
Peace militias are pro-government local tribesmen fighting to protect their village or towns from Taliban.
The meeting was being held in the remote Tirah valley that sits on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The valley is one of the prime targets of Pakistani army air strikes.
A senior security official told the Anadolu Agency, on condition of anonymity, that the death toll might increase as there were still no confirmed figures of those injured.
Due to the far-flung Tirah valley not having any large hospitals, officials were forced to transport the injured to the Hangu district, he added.
All the deceased and injured belonged to the Zakakhel tribe that has been supporting government forces in their war against the pro-Taliban Lashkar-e-Islam group.
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