Afghanistan: Religion of Peace bombs peace jirga.

How very Moslem of them.

Suicide bomber kills 40. So far.

At least 40 persons were killed and 35 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a grand peace jirga here at Zargoan Khel in the restive Darra Adamkhel town in Frontier Region Kohat, some 40 kilometers West of Peshawar on Sunday, official sources said.The death toll has mounted to 40 as five more persons were succumbed to their critical wounds in the hospitals of Peshawar and Kohat.

The jirga had decided to raise a tribal army to deal with Taliban militants.

The bomber is local and will be easily identified.

About 1,000 elders and young people from five tribes of Darra town had gathered to discuss security in the area, the withdrawal of troops and the security of the Indus Highway. There were no security arrangements for the assembly, arranged in a shady clearing surrounded by tall trees.

Tribal army: One tribesman who attended the meeting, Khalid Afridi, told AFP that the jirga had decided to “raise a tribal army to deal with Taliban militants”. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told the PTV that the meeting was to finalise a resolution to punish anyone who sheltered or helped militants, including Al Qaeda, Taliban and other foreign extremists, AP reported.

The explosion took place when most of the people had dispersed and noted elders of the five tribes - Tor Chappar, Sherakai, Busti Khel, Zarghon Khel and Akhorwal - were discussing forming committees to implement the jirga’s decisions, witnesses said. They said the bomber was between 18 and 22 years old and had a thin beard.

“The suicide bomber was an 18-year-old boy. His face is recognisable and initial investigations indicate he was a resident of Darra Adam Khel,” senior local official Saleem Gandapur told AFP.

“There were human limbs and flesh littered all over with [a] smell of explosives and suffocating smoke,” said Malak Amir Khan who miraculously escaped the blast by leaving the venue minutes before. “It was a huge explosion that jolted the area. I rushed to the venue and saw bodies of my colleagues in pools of blood with the injured crying for help.”

Ambulances were not available and the injured were ferried to the nearby Darra Civil Hospital and other medical facilities in private cars, an elder said.