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A suspected suicide attacker detonated his explosives at a mosque in northwestern Pakistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 30 people and wounding roughly 40 others, a local police official said.

Residents were trying to stop the suspect from entering the main gate of the mosque when the explosion happened at about 3 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) in a village in the Upper Dir district of North West Frontier Province, said Atiq Ur Rehman, a district coordination officer told CNN.

Upper Dir is a part of the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani military has waged a massive operation against Taliban militants, but the district has not been part of the ongoing military offensive.

It is the latest attack on civilians in northwestern Pakistan. Militants bombed a girls' school near Peshawar on Thursday, damaging several classrooms but resulting in no casualties.

Earlier this week, militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan abducted more than 120 students and staff at a graduation ceremony at Razmak Cadet College. The Pakistani army rescued most of them, while remaining hostages were freed after tribal elders negotiated their release.

On Monday, militants bombed a bus station in the North West Frontier Province city of Kohat, killing two civilians and wounding 18, a police official said. Last week, a string of militant attacks in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan -- also located in the province -- killed 12 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the attacks. However, Pakistan's Taliban said it carried out a suicide attack in Lahore, Pakistan last Wednesday that killed 27 people.

The militants threatened to continue attacking cities in Pakistan until the military ends its operations against Taliban militants. As a result, Pakistani authorities increased security in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city.

The Pakistani military has been conducting a month-long offensive against the Taliban, centered in the Swat region of North West Frontier Province.