PESHAWAR: Four explosions killed at least 24 people, predominantly civilians, in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border late on Sunday night.
Conflicting reports emerged about the nature of the blasts, with local residents claiming Pakistani fighter jets bombed four houses.
Two security officials, however, denied the airstrike claims and attributed the blasts to an explosion in a munitions dump at a militant hideout.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The Pakistani army’s public relations wing did not respond to a request for comment on the incident in the remote Tirah Valley of Khyber District.
Hundreds of residents took to the streets to protest the event before burying the bodies, according to government officials.
Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur stated that the loss of civilian lives was both tragic and condemnable.
He added that civilian casualties as a result of action against terrorists were unacceptable, according to a statement from his office.
The statement did not clarify the nature of the action or indicate who carried it out.
Khyber District is located in a volatile region along the border with Afghanistan, which has long been home to Islamist militants.
Officials said, citing local sources, that four militants lived in one of the houses that were destroyed.
The rest of the fatalities were civilians, according to the officials.
Resident Mohammad Ali Shinwari told Reuters that at least 12 children were among those killed.
He described how residents from nearby villages reached the area and pulled bodies from the rubble in the middle of the night.
The chief minister announced compensation of 10 million Pakistani rupees for each civilian killed in the incident.
His office did not specify how many of those killed were civilians in its statement about the compensation.
A host of Islamist militant groups operate in the region and have long fought against the state.
The militants have lately stepped up attacks against the army, including two on September 13 which killed 19 soldiers. – Reuters