Official says explosion at market in Pakistani tribal area kills 3, wounds 7

Official: Blast kills 3 in Pakistan tribal area

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An explosion at a market in an area along the Afghan border killed three people and wounded seven others Friday, a Pakistani official said.

The blast went off in the Khyber, a tribal region whose security is of paramount importance to the U.S. because it is the home of a major supply route for Western troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military has mounted several operations in Khyber to drive out Taliban and other Islamist militants.

Local government official Umair Khan said the morning blast occurred in Khyber’s Tirah Valley, and that its exact cause was not immediately clear.

In recent weeks, several major suicide attacks have shaken Pakistan. An attack Thursday killed at least five people in the Swat Valley, which is also in Pakistan’s northwest.

Last week, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Mohmand tribal region, killing at least 102 people in the deadliest attack in the U.S.-allied nation this year.

The attacks come as Washington is pushing Pakistan to do even more to root out militant groups that use its soil to plan attacks in Afghanistan.