Angry Pakistani tribesmen traded fire with Taleban militants and demolished their houses in a northwestern tribal region after a car suicide attack killed at least 40 people, residents and officials said on Saturday. 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 on Friday where hundreds of tribesmen were discussing a government-backed plan to raise a lashkar or tribal militia to evict militants. “Everyone is angry and upset here. The tribesmen attacked houses of the Taleban in Khadizai after the bombing. Two houses have been demolished,” Noorzad Orakzai, a resident of the Khadizai area where attack took place said. “There have been exchanges of fire throughout the night. It's still going on,” he added. Jehanzeb Siddique, a senior government official dealing with tribal areas, said they had confirmation of 40 deaths from the car bombing. Other officials said the death toll could rise further as many of the nearly 100 wounded people were in critical condition while several bodies were still unidentified. 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.
