Suicide Bomber Kills Six in NW Pakistan

A suicide bomber killed at least six people and wounded 31 others when he blew himself up outside a local government office in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area on Tuesday, officials said.

The bombing took place in the town of Jamrud, in lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan, where the military has been battling Taliban and Islamist groups.

"At least six people were killed and 31 others were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance of an office," top Khyber tribal administration official Shahab Ali Shah told Agence France Presse.

There were four tribal policemen among the dead and more than 15 other personnel were wounded, four of them critically, Shah said.

Nek Mohammad, another tribal administration official, confirmed the attack.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack in a statement on their website.

Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border have long been rife with Taliban and al-Qaida militants. 

Pakistan has been waging a major offensive against insurgent hideouts in the tribal northwest for over a year in a bid to quell an Islamist insurgency that has raged for more than a decade.