By IRNA,
Islamabad : Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of Pakistan’s major ordnance factory near the capital Islamabad, killing 35 people and injuring many others, the police chief said.
The bombers blew themselves up at two different gates of the arms manufacturing factory at Wah Cantt, a town 50 kilometers of the north west of Islamabad, when groups of factory workers were leaving and entering the building, deputy inspector general police Nasir Khan Durrani said.
The state-run television reported that 51 people were killed and 76 others injured in the blasts at 2:35 p.m.
Private television channels put the death tolls over 50.
Durrani said that most those died and injured are civilian employees of the factory.
Witnesses said that the factory workers were leaving the factory in queues to when the bombers hit them at the main gate and another gate 200 meters away.
The Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) is considered the premier defence industry and the lifeline of over half million strong armed forces, which completed its 50 years of existence in December 2001.
The factory is located in highly security zone and is guarded by the army but the bombers managed to reach the gates.
Private TV channels put the death toll up-to 50.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
But such attacks are blamed on militants.
The injured were admitted to the hospital in the town and some critical injured were shifted to Islamabad.
The army sealed the area after the twin blasts as many people from the town gathered to know about their relatives.
A large number of people reached the POF hospital to donate blood for the injured, witnesses said.
A defence analyst Lt. General (retired) Talat Masood said that around 25 000 are working in the factory, which consist of 18 different factories.
Durrani said that the police have collected evidences from the blast sites and it would be clear what kind of explosives were used in the blasts.
Witnesses said that bodies of the bombers were laying for some time at the sites and were later shifted to Islamabad for DN test to identify them.
A private TV reported that a suspect was taken into custody from the blasts site but Durrani denied any arrest.