A suicide bomb destroyed a Pakistani mosque yesterday, killing 61 people during the main weekly prayers and trapping human remains under a collapsed roof and pulverised rubble.

The attack in the volatile northwest was the deadliest in the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda in two months. Dozens of people were critically wounded and officials fear the toll could rise.

The attack turned the worship into a blood bath in Akhurwall village, part of the semi-tribal northwest area of Darra Adam Khel, about 140 kilometres west of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

A local official said 11 children were among the dead and an AFP reporter said the force of the explosion reduced the mosque to a pile of rubble.

Only one wall was left standing and the concrete roof collapsed, leaving blood stains, human remains and hair scattered in the rubble.

Houses near the mosque were also damaged, including that of Wali Mohammad, the leader of a local pro-government militia that had clashed repeatedly with local Taliban militants until reportedly cutting a deal earlier this year.

Although the Taliban denied responsibility, a local elder blamed the group and suggested it could have been acting to punish Mohammad’s militia.

Witnesses said the bomber walked into the mosque and shouted Allahu akbar (God is greater) before a deafening explosion.

Dilawar Gul, 30, said he was collecting donations from worshippers when he heard the suicide bomber shout.

“Then I heard a huge blast which flung me to part of the mosque where the roof didn’t collapse, and I survived.” *