Sunday, December 26, 2010

A young, female suicide bomber was behind a blast in Pakistan that killed at least 46 people and injured 105 others at a food distribution point

Zakir Hussain Afridi, the top government official in Bajaur Agency, Pakistan, said that the preliminary investigation into the explosion shows that a woman between the ages of 16 and 18 blew herself up. The determination was made from remains of the bomber that were recovered. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the Christmas day blast in that Asian nation's tribal region. Azam Tariq, the central spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said that it targeted people who had formed what he called a pro-government and anti-Taliban group. The blast took place about 600 meters from a U.N. World Food Program distribution point at a security checkpoint in Khar, according to Amjad Jamal, a spokesman for the agency. He said that more than 300 people were going through a security screening to get food and other items at the time of the explosion. The suicide bomber was in a burqa, a traditional full-body covering worn by some Muslim women. She was stopped for a security check at a checkpoint, where she detonated herself.

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