Bomb Kills 15 at Pakistan Funeral

A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 15 mourners and wounding 30 others, police said. The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar. Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Many hundreds have been killed over the last few years.

Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village. He said several of the wounded people were in critical condition. "We are devastated," said Zahir Khan, 32, weeping while lying in a hospital bed. His elder brother died in the attack. He said they were chatting when the bomb went off. "I never knew I was going to lose my brother forever." (More Pakistan stories.)