PESHAWAR, 21 October 2006 — A bomb blast ripped through a crowd of shoppers the northwestern city of Peshawar yesterday, killing seven people, officials said.
Dozens of others were wounded by the powerful bomb, which was planted beneath a gypsy vendor’s cart near a public park, North West Frontier Province police chief Riffat Pasha told AFP.
“It appears to be a locally-made device and was timed to detonate during the peak shopping time for Eid. We are investigating who might have carried out this gory attack,” Pasha said.
The explosion came shortly before people were due to break their day’s fast.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said seven people were killed. A doctor at Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar said 24 wounded people had been brought in, 13 of them in critical condition.
“This reprehensible crime during the holy month of Ramadan shows the beastly nature of the perpetrators, who planted the explosive device in an area outside a public park with the intent to cause maximum casualties,” Sherpao said.
The bomb was apparently planted beneath one of a number of vendors’ carts parked on a footpath outside the city’s Jinnah Park, which were selling toys, garments and jewelry ahead of the holiday, police officer Abdul Rehman said.
“The road was crowded with men, women and children when the explosion occurred,” Rehman said.
Five of the wounded were women who were selling bangles on the carts, hospital officials said.
“I heard a big explosion and as I looked back there was human flesh all around,” an eyewitness who gave his name as Shahid told AFP at the scene of the blast.
The blast sent limbs flying meters away and the road was littered with blood and pieces of flesh, an AFP photographer said. Police later cordoned off the area and collected evidence.
Muslim Khan, 35, was badly wounded in the right leg and right arm. “I was buying fruit when there was suddenly a big explosion. I fell on the ground and lost consciousness and later I found myself in the hospital,” he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although Pakistani security sources suspected militants linked to unrest in the nearby tribal area of North Waziristan.
The Pakistani government last month signed a peace deal with insurgents in North Waziristan under which rebels were supposed to end cross-border attacks on international forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has suffered a number of bomb blasts in recent years blamed mainly on extremists opposed to the pro-US policies of President Pervez Musharraf or militants from the rival sects.
Soldiers Killed in Rocket Attack
Al-Qaeda-linked militants fired a rocket on a military post in South Waziristan tribal region, killing two soldiers, military officials said yesterday. The rocket was fired late on Thursday in Ganji Tikri, a village some 35 kilometers north of South Waziristan’s main town of Wana.
Ganji Tikri adjoins Shakai town which is known to be a stronghold of Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants who fled US-led coalition forces in neighboring Afghanistan and have taken refuge with their local allies in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt.
“The soldiers died instantly and three others were injured,” a military official said on condition of anonymity.
Hundreds of people were killed in fierce battles between security forces and militants in South Waziristan in 2004.
The fighting subsided after most of the militants fled to neighboring North Waziristan, though they have gathered strength in the region over the past few months. The government last month struck a deal with the militants in North Waziristan who promised to stop attacks in the region.
