AFP KHAR A BOMB killed at least six people and wounded three others on Wednesday in Pakistan’s northwest tribal badlands bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

Those killed belonged to an anti-Taliban militia in a northwestern town close to the Afghan border.

The deaths occurred in Gatcheena village, 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Khar, the main town of lawless Bajaur district, after a bomb planted at a village meeting place was detonated remotely.

“At least six people were killed after a bomb exploded at an elders meeting,” local government official Tariq Khan told AFP.

“Three others were wounded in the blast and there were about a dozen people present,” Khan said, adding that the people might have been targeted because they supported government efforts against Taliban-linked militancy.

Another government official and an intelligence official confirmed the bombing and casualties, but the precise identities of the dead were unclear.

Bajaur was the scene of major anti-Taliban offensives in August 2008 and in February 2009, and the military has repeatedly declared the district secure.

Pakistan has for years battled homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt.

More than 3,000 soldiers have died but Pakistan has resisted US pressure to do more to eliminate havens used by insurgents fighting the Americans in Afghanistan.

Authorities in Pakistan have encouraged the formation of militias to counter the Taliban, but the militants have ruthlessly attacked the poorly equipped and disorganized tribal forces.

Government official Faramosh Khan says the anti-Taliban fighters were traveling in bus in the Bajur region when a remote control bomb exploded.

The Pakistani Taliban and allied extremists are strong across the northwest, especially in regions like Bajur where the state has little presence.

The army has carried out offensives against the militants who have carried out scores of attacks across Pakistan.