The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan on
Tuesday said that a total of 24 people died and 66 others suffered
injuries in the deadly twin blasts in Rawalpindi near the
capital.
Eye witnesses of one of the deadly twin blasts in the Pakistani
garrison city of Rawalpindi, some 15 kilometers south of the
capital Islamabad, said that a bus was carrying some employees of
the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and there were 35 to
40 people in the bus when the blast happened at 7:15 AM (02:15
GMT).
Witnesses at the scene said an explosive device was attached to
the bus as the roof and upper part of the bus were completely blown
out.
There was no official confirmation about the witnesses'
assertions.
It was reported earlier that a motorcyclist hit the bus at Qasim
Market but the police did not find any motorcycle at the site of
the blast.
Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said all those killed
in the bus were civilians and not army personnel.
The ISPR said the bus belonged to the Ministry of Defense but
did not mention any of its department.
Another blast happened in a car at R.A Bazaar in the military
area in Rawalpindi about less than 15 minutes after the first
blast. The R.A bazaar is about one-and-half kilometers from the
site of the first blast.
Pakistani security
officials examine a damaged bus at the site of bomb blast in
Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the
government had recently warned of terrorist attacks after the army
stormed the Lal Masjid, or red mosque in Islamabad, in July and
local militants in North Waziristan tribal area scrapped a peace
deal with the government.
The security was stepped up in Islamabad and major cities across
Pakistan and the government's ministers described the blasts as
terrorist acts to target innocent people.
Security men were deployed at airports, railways, bus stations
and in other sensitive areas, according to officials.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz
condemned the blasts and expressed sympathy with the bereaved
families, according to local TV channels reports.
They directed the concerned authorities to immediately hold
investigation to determine as to who were behind the blasts.
The government had recently warned that suicide bombers have
entered the capital Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi and other major
cities for terrorist attacks.
(Xinhua News Aency September 4, 2007)
