Blast in mosque kills 30

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A suicide bomber killed 30 people attending Friday prayers at a mosque, the latest violence to rock the country's northwest as the army says it is beating back the Taliban in the Swat Valley.

The attacks came as US envoy Richard Holbrooke met with top Pakistani officials, including the prime minister, who requested that the US write off Pakistan's debt to help it deal with myriad challenges including the nearly 3 million made refugees due to the Swat offensive.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the Sunni Muslim mosque in the Haya Gai area of Upper Dir.