Officials: Suicide Bomber Kills Five in NW Pakistan

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a peace committee meeting in a restive Pakistani tribal area on Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding seven others, officials said.

The bombing took place in Pir Mela village of the restive Khyber tribal district, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Peshawar.

"At least five tribesmen were killed and seven others were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up in an Aman (peace) committee meeting," a local government official told Agence France Presse.

Local security officials also confirmed the bombing and casualties.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa province Mehtab Ahmed Khan told AFP that the top provincial official condemned the suicide bombing and ordered health authorities to provide the best care for the wounded.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban and Islamist group Lashkar-e-Islam have taken refuge in Khyber.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004 after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.