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Bomb in Pakistani Tribal Region Kills Local Official, 5 Family Members

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Bomb in Pakistani Tribal Region Kills Local Official, 5 Family Members
Bomb in Pakistani Tribal Region Kills Local Official, 5 Family Members

Pakistani officials say a bomb in a northwest tribal region has killed a local official and five of his family members.

Officials say the blast struck Sunday at the home of Sarfaraz Khan, in the town of Sadda, in the Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan. There was no claim of responsibility, but Taliban militants frequently target government workers in the troubled northwest.

In the nearby North Waziristan tribal region, Pakistani officials said a U.S. drone attack on a suspected militant house killed 13 people Saturday, including at least one local militant commander.

The attacks came as thousands of people in southern Pakistan marked the two-year anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Thousands of loyalists joined prominent members of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party Sunday at her family mausoleum in a small village (Garhi Khuda Baksh) in southern Sindh province.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack while campaigning in Rawalpindi two years ago. Despite her death, her party dominated national elections and formed a coalition government that continues to rule.

An initial Pakistani investigation blamed Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud for ordering the assassination, but he denied that he was involved. Ms. Bhutto's supporters requested a United Nations probe into her death and those investigators are now evaluating the evidence. Mehsud was killed in a U.S. drone attack earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani military says its forces have raided bomb-making workshops, arms caches and a makeshift Taliban hospital in the South Waziristan tribal region.

The army says the medical facility in the remote region included an X-ray machine, surgical equipment and ammunition and equipment for making bombs.

The army's claims are rarely verified by independent observers because journalists and aid workers are largely barred from the region.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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