Islamabad, Feb. 29 (Reuters): A suicide attack on a funeral and a roadside bomb in northwest Pakistan killed at least 30 people today, many of them police, officials said.

The suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners attending the funeral for one of three policemen killed earlier when their van struck a roadside bomb in a region known as a haven for al Qaida and Taliban fighters.

At least 27 people were killed at the funeral in Swat, a mountainous region where security forces have been battling Islamist militants for months, according to Dr Yasir at Swat’s main hospital in Saidu Sharif, where most of the bodies were brought. Karamat Shah, a deputy superintendent of police, said he feared the toll was higher as several people carried the bodies of relatives home to prepare them for burial. At least 50 people were wounded in the attack, interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.

The policeman being buried had been killed near Bannu, a town at the gateway to North Waziristan, a tribal region where al Qaida cells have become entrenched. “The device targeted the police van, killing three persons and critically wounding two,” said Hamza Mehsud chief of police in Bannu district. A missile, believed to have been fired by a US pilotless drone, struck a house in North Waziristan yesterday, killing 13 suspected militants including some believed to be Arabs.

On Monday, the army’s top medical officer was killed in a suicide bomb attack in the city of Rawalpindi. The lieutenant-general was the most senior officer killed so far in the conflict with al Qaida inspired Islamist militants.

PPP woos Islamists

Opponents of President Pervez Musharraf are wooing Islamist politicians to bolster their drive to curb the power of President Musharraf after his party’s defeat in the elections.

The negotiations highlight the extent of Musharraf’s political isolation after the February 18 vote.

“We believe that the problems are so big that as far as possible we should take along all the political forces,” Pakistan People’s Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.