Pakistan tribes raze Taliban houses after bombing

Pakistani tribesmen exchanged fire with Taliban militants and destroyed their houses in a northwestern tribal region after a suicide attack killed at least 50 people, residents and officials said on Saturday.

The bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives in the middle of a tribal council meeting in Orakzai region on Friday where hundreds of tribesmen were discussing a government-backed plan to raise a lashkar or tribal militia to evict militants.

Pakistan's tribal areas on the Afghan border are regarded as safe havens for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, and the government is under pressure from the United States to take stern action to stem the flow of insurgents to Afghanistan.

"Everyone is angry and upset here. The tribesmen attacked houses of the Taliban in Khadizai after the bombing. Two houses have been demolished," Noorzad Orakzai, a resident of the Khadizai area where attack took place, told Reuters by telephone.