Suicide Bomb's Death Toll of 50 Heightens Anti-us Feelings in Pakistan

A suicide bomb attack at a mosque during Friday prayers killed at least 50 people in Pakistan's tribal area, the territory described by Barack Obama yesterday as the "most dangerous place in the world".

The attack came just hours before President Obama unveiled a new strategy for tackling Taliban and al-Qaida extremists in the area. The packed mosque was used by paramilitary soldiers stationed at a nearby checkpoint, with many of them among the dead and 100-plus injured. The blast demolished the two-story mosque in Jamrud, a town in the Khyber region near the Afghan border.

Many of the dead and injured were buried under bricks and slabs of concrete. Officials warned the death toll could rise to 70. Jamrud has few medical or rescue facilities. Most of the injured were taken to hospitals in Peshawar, the provincial capital, around 12 miles away.

"Everybody says that a Muslim could not have done this," said Tariq Hayat Khan, the chief administrator of the region. "This is the work of kaffirs (infidels)."

Despite Khan's comments, the bombing is likely to be the work of Pakistani Islamist extremists, who have targeted security personnel. Jamrud lies on the road through Khyber, which is used by Nato to take the majority of its supplies to troops in Afghanistan. Khyber used to be the safest, most stable part of the area, but it has come under sustained assault from extremists in recent months.

Islamabad welcomed the Obama review, with the prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani saying: "They have accepted our position (that) army action alone is not a solution for all these problems."

But most Pakistanis believe the US presence in the region is causing the violence. "America has created these conditions," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, one of the two mainstream religious parties. "We have to stop this partnership with the US. Why are we helping them fight our brothers?"

Ayaz Amir, a MP for the main opposition party, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, said the increased aid promised by Obama would "just increase the cesspools of corruption".

He said: "They will just create a class of war profiteers ... which is a recipe for demoralization. Pakistan has to be left on its own and the Americans have to get the hell out of Afghanistan."