By IRNA
Peshawar : A suicide bomber on Thursday blew himself up near the office of religious police in Pakistan’s tribal region, locals said.
The bomber struck the office of “Amar bil maroof wa nahee aanelmunkar” (Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) at Bara, a major town in tribal Kheyber agency, some 15 kilometers from Peshawar.
A spokesman for the group said that around 20 people were injured while the young bomber died at the scene.
Geo TV and Express TV reported that 10 people died, Dawn TV reported 2 deaths.
There was no confirmation of the deaths.
Earlier TV channels reported that the bomber targeted the office of a local Islamic group ‘Lashak-e-Islam’ (Islamic army) but the office Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice later said its office was hit.
`Lashak-e-Islam’ headed Mangal Bagh, is opposed the office of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, being run by his rivals.
A spokesman for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said that the target was leader of the group Haji Namdar but was safe.
Kheyber agency has seen bloody clashes in recent months between the supporters of Mangal Bagh and his rival group.
Mangal Bagh supporters have succeeded to force out rivals from most areas of the Kheyber agency.
Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is being run at the style of Afghanistan Taliban, who had set up the force to punish the people for their `anti-Islamic’ acts.