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KOHAT, Pakistan, Oct 11 (Reuters) Angry Pakistani tribesmen traded fire with Taliban militants and demolished their houses in a northwestern tribal region after a car suicide attack killed at least 30 people, residents said today.
Television channels put the death toll at as high as 70.
The bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the middle of a tribal council meeting in Orakzai tribal region yesterday where hundreds of tribesmen were discussing a government-backed plan to raise a lashkar or tribal militia to force militants out of the region.
Pakistan's tribal areas on the Afghan border are regarded as safe havens for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, and the government is under tremendous pressure from the United States to take stern action to stem the flow of insurgents to Afghanistan.
''Everyone is angry and upset here. The tribesmen attacked houses of the Taliban in Khadizai after the bombing. Two houses have been demolished,'' Noorzad Orakzai, a resident of the Khadizai area where attack took place, told Reuters by telephone.
''There have been exchanges of fire throughout the night. It's still going on,'' he added.
Doctors and officials confirmed that at least 30 people had been killed but they said the death toll could rise further as many of the nearly 100 wounded people were in critical condition.
''There are many bodies which are still unidentified and there were many bodies which were taken away by the relatives and are still unaccounted for. We are trying to compile the exact death toll,'' said Naeem Tanvir, a senior administration official in Orakzai.
The attack in Orakzai came a day after a suicide blast inside the heavily guarded police headquarters in the capital Islamabad in which eight policemen were wounded.
Orakzai has been the most peaceful of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions. Unlike most of the others, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan.
Militants have unleashed a new wave of violence in Pakistan in recent months after the military launched major offensives against them in the rugged northwest including Bajaur and Swat regions.
The mounting militant threat prompted the government to convene a closed joint session of the two-chambered parliament for a briefing by intelligence officials on internal security.
The parliamentarians are due to begin debate on the situation after Pakistan's newly appointed intelligence chief briefed them this week on the militant threat.
The growing violence comes amidst a stepped-up campaign by the United States against militant targets inside Pakistan.
Since the start of September the United States has carried out at least nine missile attacks, the latest on Thursday night, and a commando raid on militant targets in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Pakistan condemned the attack and said such actions would help neither Pakistan nor the United States.
''Such strikes will fuel anti-American sentiments which will neither beneficial for us nor for the United States,'' foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.
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