By IANS
Islamabad : At least 24 people were killed and 66 injured Tuesday in two bomb blasts in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, in one of the worst terror attacks in the country.
Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad put the death toll at 24 although television channels said at least 35 people were killed in the blasts.
Both attacks took place near a military base.
Online news agency quoted Arshad as saying that the first bomb exploded in a bus at Qasim market near Askari-XI area at 7.12 a.m., killing 17 people and injuring 27 others.
Eyewitnesses said the bus was destroyed by the deafening blast, which was heard across the city.
Civilians and security personnel who rushed to the spot saw body parts scattered across the road.
Overwhelmed rescue workers tried to pull out the wailing injured as well as bodies by cutting through the bus’ exterior.
The second blast occurred 15 minutes later when a bomb rigged to a motorbike parked in the RA Bazaar area exploded killing at least seven people and injuring many, the spokesman said.
All the injured were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi General Hospital, Holy Family and Rawalpindi District Hospital. Hospital sources said the toll might rise.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Javed Iqbal Cheema told a private TV channel that the bus was believed to be carrying employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed termed the bomb blast a conspiracy against the country. He warned that if terrorism continued, then fresh general elections might be putt off.
Major General Arshad said investigation was on to determine whether the blasts were suicide attacks or remote controlled.
It was too early to link the blasts with a wave of terrorism now seeping Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, he said, but added that they were clearly terror acts as innocents had been killed.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz condemned the blasts and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
Pakistan has seen escalating violence over the past two months. Two deadly suicide bombings rocked Islamabad in July, killing at least 30 and injuring around 100.