By IANS,
Peshawar : At least 19 people were killed and over 80 wounded Friday when a bomber driving a car stuffed with explosives set it off near the office of the Pakistani spy agency ISI in this North West Frontier Province (NWFP) capital and another suicide bomber struck at a police station in the province’s Bannu area.
Pakistan has been struck by a series of terror attacks since Oct 5, when the latest wave of violence was unleashed by Taliban which is battling the army in the rugged terrain of South Waziristan. Peshawar itself has seen seven attacks in this period, killing 214 people and injuring more than 400, including Friday’s attack.
Peshawar had witnessed this year’s worst terror attack Oct 28 when a massive explosion in a crowded market killed 117 people and injured over 200.
On Friday morning, a suicide bomber, in a car packed with approximately 200 kg of explosives, drove right up to a security check post located close to the heavily fortified three-storeyed building of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) here.
“Military guards fired at the vehicle at a checkpoint but the bomber kept driving and detonated the explosives near the building,” DPA quoted a police officer as saying.
Twelve people, including security personnel, were killed and 60 wounded in the powerful suicide bomb blast at about 6.30 a.m.
Those killed and injured were mostly soldiers and ISI personnel.
The suicide attack took place near Army Stadium Chowk in the heavily guarded cantonment area, police said.
Sahib Gul, spokesman of Lady Reading Hospital, said that the death toll was 12 and 60 people were injured.
The condition of several victims was critical, he added.
NWFP’s Information Minister Mian Muhammad Iftikhar said that three intelligence officials were missing after the attack and 40 to 50 vehicles were destroyed in the blast.
The massive explosion, which was heard throughout the city, almost completely destroyed the building.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the suicide attack in Peshawar. They reiterated their resolve in countering terrorism and not to allow anyone disrupt peace in the country.
NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti also denounced the blast. He said that the terrorists have no religion and are targeting innocent people which is the extreme form of barbarism.
All schools and educational institutions in the area were closed following the suicide attack.
An hour after the bombing in Peshawar, seven people were killed and 25 wounded in a suicide bombing at a police station in NWFP’s Bannu district
The suicide bomber driving a car targeted the Bakka Khel police station at Rangsa Road in Bannu, about 130 km from Peshawar.
“Five policemen and two civilians died while more than 25 are injured,” said Bannu district police chief, Iqbal Marwat.
Three suspects in police custody were also injured.
Marwat said the bomber detonated his explosives when the police guards challenged him around 40 metres from the building.
The wounded, including Station House Officer Riaz Khatak, were taken to district headquarter hospital Bannu.
Peshawar has borne the brunt of the terror strikes in Pakistan since early October.
On Oct 9, 50 people were killed in a bomb explosion. Less than a week later Oct 15, one person died in a blast while the very next day 15 people were killed in a major explosion. While Oct 23 blast left 15 people injured, five days later saw the horrific bombing in bustling Meena Bazar where 117 people died.
This month Nov 8, the Taliban struck again with a bombing that left 18 people dead and 39 wounded.