Pakistani warlord wounded in suicide attack

Pakistani warlord Mullah Nazir, who sends men into Afghanistan to fight US soldiers, was wounded Thursday in a suicide attack that killed two other people, security officials said. Nazir is the main warlord affiliated to the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, one of seven districts that make up the semi-autonomous tribal belt considered a base for Al-Qaeda and other Islamist militants. The bomber blew himself up near Nazir's vehicle as it passed through the market in Wana, the main town of the district, the officials said. Two people were killed and at least five others were wounded, including Nazir, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity, though accounts differed over the gravity of the warlord's injuries. "The bomber was a boy aged 13 or 14. Five to seven people were wounded, including Mullah Nazir. His condition is said to be not serious," one of the officials said. But another official in Wana said Nazir was "seriously wounded" in the attack. An intelligence official based in the neighbouring district of Tank said there had been a suicide attack and that firing subsequently broke out in the main market of Wana. "The bazaar is closed now. We're trying to get more information," he said. Sources in Wana said Nazir, who has survived murder attempts in the past, had fallen out with Uzbek fighters he had expelled from South Waziristan several years ago.