Dozens Die As Pakistan Suicide Bomber Targets Mosque

At least 35 people were killed today when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a mosque near the home of Pakistan's former interior minister during an Islamic holiday.

The bomber blew himself up as worshipers held prayers on the holy day of Eid al-Adha at the mosque inside Aftab Khan Sherpao's sprawling compound in Sherpao, a village 12 miles from the city of Peshawar, in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province.

The bomber had apparently sat in the front row of worshipers and begun to pray before exploding the device.

"We were saying prayers when this huge explosion occurred," Shaukat Ali, a 26-year-old survivor of the blast, told reporters. "It almost blew out our ear drums. Then it was it was like a scene from Doomsday."

Initial reports suggest that the death toll could increase in the coming hours. Local police chief Feroz Shah said: "According to my reports so far, 55 are dead but we are checking this figure, and over 100 are wounded."

Sherpao, seen as close to President Pervez Musharraf, survived the attack. "Yes, I'm fine," Sherpao told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview. One of his sons was reportedly rushed to hospital.

The former minister is contesting next month's parliamentary elections. In office he took a strong anti-militant line, a conviction strengthened after a suicide attack killed 29 people at a public rally in his constituency, Charsadda, earlier this year.

Musharraf had justified imposing emergency rule in November by saying that that it was needed to stop a "wave of terrorism and militancy". It was lifted last weekend after the president said there had been a "considerable improvement" in the country.

A recent wave of attacks, which has seen seven suicide bombings in the past two weeks, appear to be a direct challenge to the government's authority with militants embarking on a bloody campaign to undermine claims that they had been contained. Analysts say almost 800 people have died this year from attacks this year.