5 die as twin blasts hit northwest Pakistan

KHAR: A Pakistani official says two bomb blasts targeting anti-Taliban tribal elders and security forces have killed five people in the country's northwest.

Tariq Khan says the attacks occurred Thursday in Chamarkand town in the Bajur tribal region. Khan is a senior official in the area.

Khan said that in the first attack, a bomb planted alongside a road exploded as two anti-Taliban tribal elders were walking past, killing them both.

Khan said a second blast occurred when security forces rushed to the scene, killing two paramilitary soldiers and one police official.

Both bombs appeared to be detonated by remote control.

No group has claimed responsibility. But the Pakistani Taliban have carried out many similar attacks in the past