Bombing in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban kills 7 people and wounds 16

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — At least seven people were killed and 16 wounded on Monday after a powerful bomb went off outside the office of a pro-government peace committee in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest, police said.

The attack happened in Wana, a main city in the district of South Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a local police chief, Usman Wazir, told The Associated Press.

He said the bomb targeted the office of the peace committee, which publicly opposes the Pakistani Taliban. The committee also helps solve disputes among residents.

Wazir said some of the wounded were listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

The bombing happened a day after the military said troops in a major operation killed 54 militants in the nearby North Waziristan district following their attempt to cross into the country from Afghanistan.

On Monday, the military said troops killed 17 more militants in an overnight operation in North Waziristan, bringing the total number of insurgents killed in the region in the past three days to 71.

In a statement, the military said troops also seized a cache of weapons in the operation against militants who were ''operating on behest of their foreign masters.''

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in separate statements denounced the bombing. They also praised the country's security forces for killing militants in coordinated operations in North Waziristan.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, but blame is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and often target security forces and civilians.

TTP is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.

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Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan.