Two explosions went off minutes apart in the northwest city of Peshawar overnight yesterday, killing 39 people and injuring about 108 in one of the deadliest attacks since the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden last month, officials said.
The blasts, one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, occurred just after midnight in an area of the city that is home to political offices and army housing.
The attack took place as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Islamabad to speak separately with senior Pakistani officials about intelligence sharing and efforts to reconcile with the Taliban.
The first explosion at 11:30pm on Saturday was relatively small and drew police and rescue workers to the site, said Dost Mohammed, a senior local police official. A large explosion rocked the area a few minutes later, causing the fatalities and injuring 98 people, 18 critically, said Rahim Jan, a senior doctor at a local hospital.
The second blast was caused by a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle packed with 10kg of explosives, said Ejaz Khan, a senior police official. The source of the first explosion was unknown.
The Pakistani Taliban denied responsibility for the blasts.
The bombings took place across the street from the offices of the top political agent to Khyber, part of Pakistan’s volatile tribal region, and only about 100m from army housing units.
The dead included at least two journalists. Another three journalists and at least 10 police were injured, a doctor said. Many of the people killed were so badly burned they were difficult to identify.
Jamal Khan, a 22-year-old student, was in his apartment when the first blast went off. He rushed to the scene as the second explosion occurred, peppering his face and arms with flying debris.
“The explosion was so huge I will never forget it all my life,” Khan said as he recovered in a hospital.
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