/asia
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomber targeted a tribal gathering in north-west Pakistan Friday evening, Pakistani authorities have said, killing 18 people and injuring more than 45.
The gathering, known as a jirga, was taking place in an open area in the town of Khadazai, reported the deputy inspector general of Kohat police.
Tribal leaders had met to discuss forming a militia known as a lashkar to take on the Taliban.
The Pakistan army and government have encouraged tribal lashkars in an effort to build local resistance to the Taliban insurgency in the tribal areas that straddle the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Khadazai is located in the Orakzai Agency or territory, one of the federally administered tribal territories in northwest Pakistan.
One of the nearest Frontier Corps police stations close to the site of the blast is in Kohat.
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