Ethiopian Review

A suicide bomb attack in northwest Pakistan has killed at least 32 people and wounded scores of others who were attending Friday prayers.

Police say the blast happened at a mosque in a remote village in Upper Dir district.

The region is near Swat valley, where the Pakistani military has been battling Taliban fighters for more than a month.

Some 2.5 million people have been displaced by the fighting. International aid workers say they desperately need more food and funding to help the displaced.

U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke, who has been speaking with top officials in Islamabad this week, said Friday that he is convinced public opinion has turned against Islamic militancy.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Holbrooke also expressed concern that increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan could prompt more militants to seek refuge in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s army continues to battle militants in the greater Swat valley region. On Friday, the army said that in the last 24 hours, troops had killed 10 militants – while 19 police officers and members of the security forces had died in the fighting.

There was also more fighting reported in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. A military statement said an improvised bomb attack on a vehicle convoy killed three soldiers.

- VOA