Car bombing kills 45 in Pakistan (Second lead)

PESHAWAR - At least 45 people were killed and more than 75 injured Friday in a suicide bombing in north-western Pakistan’s restive tribal region along the Afghan border, a government official said.

The car bomb detonated at the main gate of the office of the civil administrator in the town of Yaka Ghund in the Mohmand tribal district, where troops are fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents.

The office building was crowded with people when the blast took place.

“At least 45 people have been confirmed dead and more than 75 are injured,” senior government official Rasool Khan said. “Among the killed are also some children.”

The explosion also demolished parts of a nearby prison and allowed 35 prisoners to flee, Khan said. Those who escaped were charged with minor offenses.

Earlier, Khan had said Taliban militants were also being held in the prison.

Many of the wounded were being moved to Peshawar, the capital of the neighbouring province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The state-run news channel PTV put the death toll at 50 and numbers of wounded at 100, citing security officials.