Bomb kills 8 tribesmen in northwest Pakistan

A powerful bomb ripped through a restaurant at a market in a northwestern Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border today, killing eight men and wounding 10 others, officials said.

The attack happened in the Salarzai area of troubled Bajur tribal region and some of the pro-government elders were also among the dead and wounded, according to local government official Israr Khan.

Khan said the bomb had apparently been planted inside the restaurant.

A doctor, Mohammed Saeed, said they received four bodies, while four men died at their hospital. He said they were also treating 10 wounded, some of them listed in critical condition.

No one has claimed responsibility, and the motive behind the attack was not immediately known.

Bajur has witnessed scores of such attacks in the past several years.

The region is considered a militant stronghold and violence has continued there since last year, when the military claimed that it had defeated the Taliban and al-Qaida militants after more than a year of fighting.