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Death toll of suicide attack in NW Pakistan rises to over 20

04 May 2012 17:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 20 people were killed and over 40 others injured in a suicide attack that hit a market area in Pakistan’s northwest tribal area of Bajaur Agency on Friday morning, said hospital sources, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Local media quoted hospital sources as saying that at least four people injured in the attack were still in critical condition, indicating a possible rise in the death toll.

The deadly suicide attack took place at about 8:10 a.m. local time when a teenage suicide attacker aged about 14 blew himself up while security personnel patrolling in a bazaar in Khar town of Bajaur Agency tried to frisk him.

At least eight security personnel and 12 civilians including four children were killed in the blast, said local media.

The huge blast, which destroyed five vehicles and four shops in the nearby areas, also caused huge panic in the areas with all shops and schools closed following the blast.

A curfew was imposed in the area after the attack.

Security forces have been dispatched to the explosion area and a search operation was launched later by local police, resulting in the arrest of two suspected attackers aged in their early 20s along with two suicide jackets, pistols and handgrenades.

Police said they were informed that about one week ago that three suicide attackers sneaked into the Khar town. They believed the two suspects nabbed by them Friday belong to the same group.

Details about the two suspects, such as where they came from and which organization they belonged to, are still not known.

Latest news coming in said that TTP (Pakistan Taliban) have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Both Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani have issued statements condemning the attack. Gilani has instructed the hospital administration to provide the best possible medical treatment to the injured.