(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-02 17:21

ISLAMABAD  -- Some 25 people were feared dead and dozens of others injured Sunday in a suicide attack during a tribal Jirga in northwestern Pakistan, according to local TV reports.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of tribal elders in a Pakistan tribal region, killing up to 25 people and injuring over 30 others, witnesses said.

Tribal elders gathered at the town of Darra Adam Khel, some 30 km southeast of Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), to discuss ways to maintain peace in the town when the bomber struck the participants, according to the witnesses.

The jirga, or council of elders, was summoned to discuss measures against suspected militants in the area, TV channels reported. It was reported that they have decided to burn houses of those tribesmen and impose fine who will provide shelter to foreign militants.

Those seriously injured were being taken to hospitals in Peshawar and Kohat, a major city near Darra Adam Khel. Several were also admitted in the Darra Adam Khel hospital.

No group claimed responsibility of the suicide attack.

Fighting in Darra Adam Khel started on January 25 after the Taliban hijacked a military convoy carrying supplies and ammunition destined for Pakistani troops in North Waziristan.

The Pakistani army halted military operations against the Taliban-linked militants in Darra Adam Khel in late January after a peace jirga requested the suspension of operations.

The security forces have increased patrolling and surrounded the area.