Suicide attack at Pakistan mosque kills 61

The roof of the mosque collapsed with the force of the explosion

A suicide bomber destroyed a Pakistani mosque on Friday, killing 61 people during the main weekly prayers and leaving body parts under a collapsed roof and pulverised rubble

The deadliest attack in two months in the country on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda was followed by a grenade assault on a second mosque in the same area which killed at least four.

Dozens of people were critically wounded and officials fear the toll from both attacks could rise.

The first blast turned worship into a bloodbath in Akhurwall village, part of the semi-tribal northwest area of Darra Adam Khel, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) west of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Eleven children were among the dead said a local official, as the force of the explosion reduced the mosque to a pile of rubble.

Only one wall was left standing and the concrete roof collapsed, leaving bloodstains, human remains and hair scattered in the debris.

Houses near the mosque were also damaged, including that of Wali Mohammad, the leader of a local pro-government militia that had clashed repeatedly with local Taliban militants until reportedly cutting a deal earlier this year.

Although the Taliban denied responsibility, a local elder blamed the group, suggesting it could have been acting to punish Mohammad's militia.

Witnesses said the bomber walked into the mosque and shouted Allahu akbar (God is greater) before a deafening explosion.

Dilawar Gul, 30, said he was collecting donations from worshippers when he heard the suicide bomber shout.

"Then I heard a huge blast which flung me to part of the mosque where the roof didn't collapse, and I survived."

Local administration official Gul Jamal Khan told AFP that 61 people had been killed and 104 others wounded.

Television footage showed an elderly bearded man wearing a traditional white shalwar khamis drenched in blood limping into casualty in provincial capital Peshawar, while a shrieking woman beat her hands against her head.

Local elder Sohbat Khan Afridi blamed the Taliban, given that Mohammad, who formed his tribal militia in 2007 to fight the militants, has a house close to the mosque, although he is understood to live in Lahore.

The Taliban and the militia, which is known locally as a lashkar, clashed repeatedly in the area but this year reached a compromise in which blood money was paid to the Taliban, Afridi said.

But Azam Tariq, spokesman for Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban, denied that the faction was involved. The Taliban routinely deny attacks that kill civilians but have been blamed for some of the country's most devastating bombings.

"It is the work of Blackwater," Tariq told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location in reference to the US security firm renamed Xe after courting controversy in Iraq over civilian deaths.

Khalid Umarzai, a regional administrator, suggested the attack could have been retaliation for military operations targeting Islamist militants.

"An operation is going on by the army and Frontier Corps (paramilitary) in the Darra Adam Khel area. We had been expecting such attacks," he added.

At least four more people were killed and 14 others wounded when hand grenades were thrown into a mosque in the second attack 20 kilometres (12 miles) away, a hospital official said.

Senior police official Kalam Khan said up to four hand grenades had been thrown inside the mosque. (AFP)