By Associated Press
Sunday, January 3, 2010; A08

Tribal elders in a Pakistani village where a suicide car bomber killed nearly 100 people said Saturday that residents will keep defying the Taliban, even as the bloodshed exposed the risks facing the citizens' militias that are a key element of Pakistan's arsenal against extremism.

The New Year's Day attack in the northwestern village of Shah Hassan Khel was one of the deadliest in a surge of bombings that has killed more than 600 people across Pakistan since October. Police said they think the attacker intended to detonate 550 pounds of explosives at a meeting of tribesmen who supervise an anti-Taliban militia. The blast occurred at a nearby outdoor volleyball court, killing at least 96.

The explosion leveled about three dozen mud-brick homes and covered the village with dust, smoke and the smell of burning flesh. Many residents of the village of 5,000 would not name possible culprits, but others were defiant.

"The people are in severe grief and fear; it is a demoralizing thing," said Raham Dil Khan, a rifle-toting member of the tribal council. "We want the government to provide security, but one thing is very clear: The committee will stand against every type of terrorism, and despite this great loss we will continue our work."

Naqeebullah Khan, 25, who lost a cousin, said: "We will fight. We will die. We will not bow to these cowards."

Local administrator Asmatullah Khan said Saturday that 90 bodies have been identified and that six remain unknown. Thirty-six people are being treated for injuries.

Shah Hassan Khel lies in the Lakki Marwat district near South Waziristan, where the Pakistani army has waged an offensive against the Taliban since October.