Pakistan: Taliban suicide bomber kills 15, wounds 37 at a funeral

A boy injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack at a funeral, is comforted by his grandfather after he was brought to the Lady Reading hospital for treatment in Peshawar March 11, 2012. A suspected suicide bomber killed at least 10 people and wounded 29 in an attack on a funeral on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar on Sunday, a police official said. (Reuters Pictures)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 15 mourners, officials said.

The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.

Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway.

Thousands of civilians and security officials have been killed over the last few years in the militants attacks, which appeared to have been decreasing lately due to the Pakistani army's operations in the tribal regions and the elimination of several key Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in U.S. drone strikes.

Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village. Peshawar deputy commissioner Siraj Ahmad said the explosion killed 15 people and wounded another 37.

The two officials said several of the wounded people were in critical condition.

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