Deadly blast near Peshawar court

19/11/2009| IslamWeb

At least 15 people have been killed in a bomb blast outside the main gate of a court building in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Officials said about 25 more people were hurt in Thursday's attack.

According to witnesses, the blast occurred in a car parked within the court premises on the Khyber Road.

"It happened outside the judicial complex," Abdul Wali, a police officer, told the Reuters news agency.

The building is close to the Pearl Continental Hotel, where at least nine people were killed when it was targeted by a truck bomb in June.

'Blew himself'

The head of Peshawar city administration, Sahibzada Anees, told reporters that a bomber carried out the attack.

"The attacker was on foot and blew himself when guards tried to search him at the gates of the court," he said.

Three policemen were among the dead, Anees said.

Sahib Gul, head of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, said 15 bodies had been brought to the hospital.

The blast comes as Pakistan's military is fighting members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in the country's semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan.

The military launched its offensive nearly three weeks ago, pitting about 30,000 Pakistani troops against an estimated 10 to 12,000 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan.

PHOTO CAPTION

Pakistani police officials examine the site of a bomb blast in Peshawar.

 

Al-Jazeera