At least 20 killed in attack on Pakistan mosque

At least 20 worshippers were killed and 30 wounded when suspected militants hurled grenades and fired into a mosque in northern Pakistan during Wednesday evening prayers, an official said.

"Militants surrounded the mosque, threw grenades and then started indiscriminate firing, killing 20 people and wounding 30 others," a senior security official told AFP.

He said the attackers fled into the mountains after the attack in the remote region of Dir district in North West Frontier Province, near the Afghan border.

Local district official Mahmood Khan said three grenades were lobbed into the mosque which hit the last two rows of the congregation. Children were among the victims, he said.

The district borders on Bajaur and Swat districts where Pakistani troops are heavily engaged in a crackdown on al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants.

Despite this, the attack was a rare one in Dir district which has a majority of Sunni Muslims, the main denomination in Pakistan.

Mahmood Khan said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack but last month a meeting of elders in the area had issued a strongly-worded statement against the Taliban and had vowed to act against them entering the area.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the attack, official media reported.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who was sworn in on Tuesday, has pledged to combat the Islamic militancy that has been plaguing the country and neighboring Afghanistan.

The government has been struggling to tackle militant violence that has seen nearly 1,200 people killed in bombings and suicide attacks across the country in the past year.

U.S. and Afghan officials say Pakistan's border tribal areas are a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

al-Qaeda chief Osama bin laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.