At least 25 people have been killed and 27 others injured in two explosions in a bakery of army in Naushera and in a van near Matni area of Peshawar, officials said on Sunday.: At least 18 people were killed and 45 others were injured when a suicide bomber attacked an army-run bakery on the Mall Road in Nowshera Cantonment on Sunday night.The condition of 12 of the injured people was said to be serious.
According to a police official who refused to identify himself, those killed in the attack included the wife of an army major, his son and a daughter.
The blast caused a massive fire in the bakery and gas cylinders kept there also caught fire and started exploding. A number of adjacent buildings, a restaurant and some shops also caught fire.
Bodies of most of the victims were charred beyond recognition.
According to bomb disposal squad personnel, the bomber appeared to be teenager. His head had been found in the debris of the bakery.
They said that seven to eight kilograms of explosives had been used in the bombing which took place at around 8.45pm. Of the 18 people killed in the bombing and the resultant fire, only three bodies could be identified — Kamran, Sajjad Hussain and six-year-old girl Wafa.
Some of those injured in the blast included Mohammad Sharif, Arshad, Imran, Captain Hasnat, Mohammad Irshad, Adnan Sharif, Zaman Sharif, Luqman Sharif, Faizan Ali Shah, Amjad, Ibrahim, Umar Quresh, Minhajullah Malik, Bilal, Ibrahim , Asadullah, Abdullah, Shahan and Mohammad Imran.
According to witnesses, the fire gutted the bakery, a restaurant and some cosmetic shops because the fire brigade engines reached there quite late.
Officials said that most of the injured had been taken to the Combined Military Hospital where nobody was allowed, causing confusion among people who wanted information about the people killed and injured.
“I was in the bakery doing my work when I heard a big blast and soon a huge fire engulfed the place,” said bakery employee Imran Khan.
District Police Officer Quraish Khan earlier said that seven people had been killed and several others injured.
A fire-fighter told this correspondent that he had seen two bodies inside the building after extinguishing the fire.
AGENCIES ADD: “We have confirmed 18 dead,” Turk Ali Shah, a police spokesman in Nowshera, said. He said 35 people were wounded.
Zakaullah Khan, the city’s top government official, said the death toll could rise as many wounded were in critical condition.
The responsibility of the attack was claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
“It was a remote control bomb which was planted by our men,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a phone call from an undisclosed location.According to Media Reports explosive material exploded in a passenger van headed toward Kala Khel near Matni, suburb area of Peshawar which resulted in killing of 7 people including 2 children and a woman and injuries to 10 others. Heath officials confirmed that 5 bodies and 6 wounded have been shifted to Lady Reading hospital, where 2 wounded reported in critical condition.
Local police officer, Abdul Ghafar confirmed 6 casualties, adding the bomb was already planted in the vehicle.
According to Bomb Disposal Scrod, about 5 kilogram explosive was used in the explosion.
Police rushed to the site soon after the blast and arrested the driver of exploded van, forces later blocked the area and started search operation.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik condemn the blast.
The President said in his message that terrorists were enemy of humanity and their actions would not shake courage of the government. The prime minister said killing of innocent people was not Jihad, he reiterated that fight against terrorism would continue.
He advised officials to provide better treatment who sustained injuries in this incident. Interior Minister Malik said terrorists were not friend and well-wishers of Islam and humanity and these elements acting under the command of their Lords of terror. He ordered to probe into the incident.
