On 25 December 2010, at least 47 people were killed and over 100 others injured, after a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives in a large crowd of people displaced by fighting, who were collecting food at a distribution centre of the World Food Programme in the Pakistani town of Khar, which is located within the Bajaur tribal region, of north-western Pakistan.
Several police officials confirmed the bomber was a woman, as opposed to the more likely occurrence of a man wearing the burka as a disguise, in order to successfully conduct this suicide attack.
It was also known that those in this crowd were predominantly displaced members of the Salarzai Tribe, which has supported Pakistan Army operations against the Pakistani Taliban within the Bajaur tribal regions.
However, there are concerns that the death toll could very likely rise, as the official stated that several of those injured, as a result of this suicide attack were apparently in critical condition at the local hospitals.
This statement will be met with a certain degree of approval in the U.S., as Pakistan has recently been pressured to launch a major ground offensive in the nearby North Waziristan tribal region, in order to root out and destroy the last major remaining safe-haven for Radical Islamist and Pakistani Taliban insurgents within the country.