The death toll from a suicide bombing at a mosque in Pakistan's restive tribal region has risen to 12, officials said Friday. A suicide bomber blew himself up on Thursday as worshippers were leaving evening prayers at a mosque 22 kilometres north-west of Khar, the main town of the Bajaur tribal region.

"Rescue teams found more bodies from the site of the attack late on Thursday, rising the death toll to 12 from six," local administration official Mohammad Jamil told AFP. The mosque was run by an anti-militant tribal elder, Haji Rehmatullah, who was also killed in the attack.

Pakistan's tribal belt became a safe haven for hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban extremists who fled the US-led toppling of Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001.

Pakistani forces have been involved in fierce clashes with al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants since a military operation was launched in Bajaur in August. The military said last month some 1,500 rebels and 73 soldiers had died since the fighting began in August, while hundreds more militants have been captured.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008