Market blasts, gun battle rock Peshawar: 10 dead, 100 injured

[Naveed Yaseen]

ABDUL QADOOS
PESHAWAR (May 29 2009): Ten people including four police personnel were killed and over 100 others wounded in two consecutive bomb blasts in Qisa Khwani Bazar while in the third incident an alleged suicide bomber struck a security checkpost near Mathani. The two blasts occurred at the main Qisa Khwani and Kabari Bazar within minutes of each other.

The Thursday's incident was third in the series of terror acts triggered following the launching of military operation in Malakand Division. The first explosion occurred in an electronic shop in Kabari Bazar followed by another blast in Qisa Khwani Bazar. The injured were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital and other hospitals where emergency has been declared. Several of the injured were stated to be in serious condition and the number of casualties are expected to rise.

According to eyewitnesses, the explosion at Qisa Khwani was carried out with a bomb planted in a car parked outside the market. The blasts also destroyed dozens of vehicles and shops. Those who were killed included Mohammad Naeem, Imtiaz, Javed Khan and a teenager, whose identity could not be ascertained.

On the finding of some suspected elements, more police force was deployed and the encounter between police and armed men started in the area. The law-enforcement agencies made announcements through the loudspeaker of the local mosques asking people to avoid standing on the rooftops of their houses.

In the police action in the presence of the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Sifwat Ghayyur two terrorists were killed while two others arrested. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Malik Naveed Also visited the site and appreciated the performance of police and thanked people of the city in extending co-operation to the police force. After the incident, rescue and relief workers rushed to the site and were under way at blast sites.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and others strongly condemned the incident and offered their sympathies to the heirs of the victims.

The President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani directed the administration of NWFP for bringing the culprits involved in the incident to justice.

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