Islamabad, November 13: Suicide bombers struck an office of the ISI and a police station in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 11 people and injuring 40 others in the latest in a wave of audacious terrorist attacks across the country.
A suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into the gate of the Inter-Services Intelligence office within the cantonment of Peshawar city at 6.40 am, killing at least eight persons and injuring 30 others, police and rescue service officials said
The bomber’s car was packed with about 200 kg of explosives, Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed Khan told reporters. The facade of the building and a nearby check post were destroyed by the blast, which was heard up to 20 km away.
Officials at the Lady Reading Hospital said they had received the bodies of two security personnel, four civilians and a private security guard.
About 30 injured people, including a six-year-old boy, were taken to this hospital. More bodies and injured were taken to a military hospital.
The ISI office on Khyber Road that was targeted is located at a short distance from an army stadium and the official residences of several dignitaries, including the Governor and Chief Minister of the North West Frontier Province.
A second suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a suburban police station in the garrison city of Bannu, southwest of Peshawar, killing three policemen and wounding five others, police said.
“The bomber rammed the car into the police station,” Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said from the garrison town.
“There are three policemen dead and 12 injured. The number of casualties is likely to rise because the injured are being pulled out from the rubble of the police station,” he added.
Peshawar, which borders Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt where US officials say al-Qaida are plotting attacks on the West and where Pakistani troops are pressing a major offensive, is frequently hit by attacks.
—PTI