48 killed in Peshawar suicide bombing

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Another 148 injured as car packed with 100kg explosives hits bus in Khyber Bazaar
* Malik says govt has no option left but to start operation in South Waziristan

By Manzoor Ali Shah

PESHAWAR: A suicide attack at Khyber Bazaar on Friday killed 48 people and injured more than 148, officials and hospital sources have said. An official at the Lady Reading Hospital said four people had succumbed to their injuries at hospital.

The blast occurred at 12:15pm after a white car rammed into a public transport bus, Cantt Superintendent of Police Nisar Marwat told reporters. He said the car was packed with 100 kilogrammes of explosives. Bomb Disposal Squad chief Shafqat Malik confirmed that a suicide attacker was responsible, adding the device was planted in the door panels of the vehicle and included machinegun ammunition, designed to inflict maximum casualties, AFP reported.

The blast left a charred skeleton of a bus flipped on its side in the middle of the road, with the twisted remains of a motorbike nearby. Passers-by rushed to cover the bodies of victims whose clothes were burned off, while a man carried an injured woman. One man staggered from the scene, his face covered with blood, the Associated Press reported.

No option: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attack meant the country now “had no other option but to carry out an operation in South Waziristan”. “All roads are leading to South Waziristan,” he told a private TV channel.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the blast and offered their condolences to the families of the deceased.

The president and premier also said that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to justice. The chief minister also announced Rs 300,000 for the family of each deceased and Rs 100,000 for each critically injured person, APP reported. The chief minister also ordered a thorough probe into the incident.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_1