“The death toll is now 32. Ninety-five people have been wounded and 21 of them are in serious condition,” Jameel Shah, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital, the main government hospital in the city told Reuters.
The bombing took place near a building which houses several newspaper offices as well as apartments and across the street from the offices of the top political agent to Khyber, and only about 100 yards from army housing units.
A small blast preceded a big one which senior police official Banaras Khan said police suspect was carried out by a suicide bomber.
“A huge fire broke out soon after the second blast. I myself saw five dead bodies on the spot soon after the blast,” witness Syed Alam said.
The first explosion 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 95 people, said Mohammed Farooq, a doctor at a local hospital.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but terrorists have stepped up bomb and suicide attacks across country since the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US SEALs in a secret raid last month in Abbottabad.
The attack took place as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were in Islamabad, to speak separately with senior officials about intelligence sharing and efforts to reconcile with the Taliban.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday strongly condemned the bomb blast in Peshawar resulting in loss of precious lives and injuries to many others.
The president affirmed the government’s determination to curb the menace of terrorism and extremism.
He said such cowardly attacks cannot shake resolve of the government.
Sympathizing with the bereaved families, the president prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed souls in eternal peace.
He directed the civil administration to provide best medical care to the injured. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani also strongly condemned the bomb blast in Peshawar resulting in loss of precious lives and injuries to many others.
The prime minister reiterated government’s resolve to root out the cancer of terrorism from every nook and corner of the country.
“Such cowardly attacks on peaceful citizens cannot demoralise the nation,” he added.
