they believe the former minister was targeted over his supervision of operations against militants in Pakistan 's tribal areas including the restive NWFP . This attack is the deadliest in Pakistan since 136 people were killed in the southern port city of Karachi on October 18 in a suicide bombing targeting the convoy of Benazir Bhutto , Pakistan 's former prime minister . See photos from the blast 's aftermath '' Bhutto returned to the country after eight years in self-imposed exile ahead of January parliamentary elections . The attack comes in the midst of continued operations by the Pakistani army to rout out militants in the swat valley in the north of the country , an area the government considers a front-line in the so-called global war on terror . A former tourist destination about 100 miles -LRB- 160 kilometers -RRB- from Islamabad , The Swat Valley has been plagued by violence and has become a hotbed for militants . Earlier this month , the army said it has retaken towns seized by militants over the summer , killing 290 and capturing 140 . The attack also comes less than a week after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old
LAHORE , Pakistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Police raided an Islamic school and arrested seven students hours after a blast in a mosque in northern Pakistan left at least 50 dead and dozens injured , according to an Associated Press report . A man , right , mourns the death of his two sons in a suicide attack near Peshawar that killed at least 50 . A bomb , packed with ball-bearings and nails , tore through Eid prayers at a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers northeast of Peshawar on Friday , targeting Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao , former Pakistani interior minister , local police told CNN . The blast left blood-stained clothes , hats and shoes as well as body parts and pieces of flesh scattered across the mosque , according to reports . The attack is the most recent in a series of attacks in Pakistan 's North West Frontier Province and occurred near Sherpao 's residence in Charsadda -- an area approximately 28 miles -LRB- 45 kilometers -RRB- northeast of the city of Peshawar . Watch what 's known about the blast '' Police investigators say Taliban or al Qaeda elements could have been involved and