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Blast Kills 25 in NW Pakistan

   VOA News 18 February 2010

   Authorities  in Pakistan say a bomb blast in a northwest tribal region
   has killed at least 25 people.
   Many  others  were  wounded  in  Thursday's bombing at a mosque in the
   Khyber region near the Afghan border.
   The  bombing  may  have  been  one  militant  group attacking another.
   Officials  say  the  blast  apparently  targeted  the  commander of an
   Islamist group, Lashkar-e-Islam, based in the area.
   Pakistan's  northwest  region is a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida
   militants.
   The  United  States  has  urged  Pakistan to step up its fight against
   militants in the region.
   The  bombing  Thursday  came  as  U.S.  special representative Richard
   Holbrooke  meets  with  Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in
   the capital Islamabad.
   Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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