Police: Suicide bomb in northwest Pakistan kills 8

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide bomber struck a goat market in northwest Pakistan, killing eight people in an attack apparently aimed at a local mayor, police said.

The attack took place Sunday morning in the Adazi area, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the main northwest city of Peshawar. The mayor, Abdul Malik, survived the attack but was wounded, police official Naseem Khan said.

Militants have struck numerous times in Pakistan in recent weeks, killing more than 300 civilians and security forces in attacks aimed at weakening the government's resolve to continue a military operation against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in South Waziristan.

The government launched the offensive in mid-October in the semiautonomous tribal region, which runs along the Afghan border and where the government has seldom had significant influence. The area has become the main Taliban and al-Qaida sanctuary in the country.

The military says hundreds of militants have been killed in the fighting - a claim the Taliban dismisses.

About 350,000 people have fled the fighting, of whom about 20,000 are believed to be in neighboring North Waziristan.