PESHAWAR, Pakistan, March 9, 2011 (AFP) - A suicide bombing at a funeral in northwestern Pakistan claimed at least 34 lives and wounded 45 people on Wednesday, a hospital official told AFP, raising an earlier death toll of 24.
"We have received 34 dead bodies and 45 injured. Eleven of the injured are in a very critical condition. Some of the dead are in pieces," Abdul Hameed Afridi, head of the main hospital in Peshawar city, told AFP.
The suicide bomber was targeting members of an anti-Taliban militia attending funeral prayers for the wife of a militiaman in Adezai village, near the city of Peshawar that leads to the border tribal regions, police officer Mohammad Ijaz Khan said.
"We have sent teams to remove the bodies and shift the injured to the hospital," Khan added.
Adezai village is known for clashes between the Pakistani Taliban and pro-government militia men, local police officer Siraj Ahmed told AFP.
