Pakistan Blast Leaves 88 Dead

By ZAHID HUSSAIN

At least 88 were killed when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into a crowd of people gathered to watch a volleyball game in a village in northwest Pakistan.

Friday's blast was among the deadliest in the area since October, when Pakistan's government began a military offensive in nearby South Waziristan, a center of al Qaeda and Taliban activities.

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Witnesses said an attacker drove a double-cabin truck into the area between houses where hundreds of spectators, including many teens, were watching a volleyball game between two local teams. The high-intensity explosion drove victims several hundreds of feet and leveled dozens of homes. Among the dead were eight children, six paramilitary troops, two police and several players, said Ayed Khan, the local police chief.

Several local elders were also killed, police said, as part of the mosque where they were gathering collapsed. Police said it was meeting to discuss the local peace committee, as the local militias are often called.

Dozens more were wounded, and the death count rose into the evening Friday as officials searched in the dark for bodies and survivors.

Militants in Pakistan regularly attack military installations and even markets in Pakistan, but this appeared to be the first time a sports field was targeted.

Pakistan's strategy to help organize anti-Taliban militias have so far met with little success, largely because the military's failure to provide protection to them against the militant attacks.