A suicide car bomber struck near a local mayor's house in Pakistan's Peshawar city Sunday, killing 11 people including the one-time backer turned anti-Taliban village mayor, police said.

The bomber blew himself up as Abdul Malik, mayor of Matni village, was standing in a busy market.

Malik was head of a lashkar, or tribal militia, raised by the villagers against the fighters.

"He was pro-government and was deadly against the Taliban," Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan said.

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- against Taliban fighters.



Agencies