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The deadliest bombing of the day struck a mosque inside a religious school in the province of South Waziristan, also in the FATA.

At least 26 people were killed and 40 others wounded. Maulana Noor Mohammad, a former member of parliament, was among the dead.

"Apparently it was a suicide attack and Maulana Noor Mohammad was the target," an intelligence official told Reuters.

Noor Mohammad ran the school, which is located in the main town of Wana, and was greeting worshippers after prayers at the mosque when the bomber struck.

The mosque was badly damaged in the blast, and local residents were busy trying to recover people from the rubble amid fears that the death toll could rise further.

Taliban 'negotiator'

Wana residents described Noor Mohammad as an influential figure who had several times acted as a negotiator between the Taliban and the Pakistani government.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said the Taliban could be behind the blast.
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More drones

The missile strike hit the village of Danda Darpa Khel, on the outskirts of Miramshah, North Waziristan's major town.

It was the 53rd US drone strike in Pakistan this year, equalling the number of strikes in all of 2009, according to the New America Foundation.The US government does not acknowledge such attacks, which are reportedly run by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Monday's strike, like others in North Waziristan, was believed to have targeted the Haqqani Network,which is based in the province and considered by the US to be the greatest threat to Nato forces in eastern Afghanistan.

The vast majority of US drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 have taken place in North Waziristan, according to the Long War Journal website.