News
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
20 killed in Kohat car bomb attack
* Mostly women, children killed after car bomb ripped through residential area inside Kohat Police Lines at iftaar time
* Two dozen houses, shops destroyed in attack
PESHAWAR: At least 20 people, mostly women and children, were killed, while more than 94 others were injured in a car bomb attack near the Kohat Police Lines on Tuesday.
The car bomb ripped through a compound containing police officers’ homes, a training facility and a commercial area, when people were busy in iftaari. The powerful blast destroyed two dozen houses and shops and rescuers were busy in pulling out bodies and the injured from the rubble.
“The dead were the wives and children of police officers,” said Khalid Omarzai, the city’s top government official, adding that another 94 people were also wounded.
Policeman Muhammad Arif said there was a huge explosion in the residential area of the compound soon after iftaar. Power to the area was cut, forcing emergency workers to search for victims in the dark.
“This city is a war zone. We would always expect such attacks,” said Omarzai.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani have strongly condemned the attack and stressed that terrorists would never be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs.
“Such reprehensible acts only strengthen the resolve of the government and the people of Pakistan, who are determined to eradicate this menace,” the president said.
The president expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
“While the nation is passing through difficult times due to floods, these cowards are mercilessly killing innocent Muslims when they are breaking their fasts during the holy month of Ramazan in their homes,” the prime minister said.
Kohat has been the scene of several terrorist attacks this year. In April, two burqa-clad suicide bombers attacked people lined up to register for food and other relief supplies in the district, killing 41 persons and wounding dozens more. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk