Suicide blast hits Pakistan's garrison city, 34 killed
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A suicide bomber blew himself up in the high security and crowded area, killing 34 people in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday, a senior police officer said.
Regional Police Officer Aslam Tarin said the bomber riding a motorcycle, exploded his bomb in a place surrounded by bank, hotels and busy shopping center at 10:40 a.m. local time (0740 GMT) . The Pakistani army headquarters is also located less than 500 meters away.
Tarin said that some body parts of the bomber and a suicide jacket have been recovered from the blast site. A head is also found from the scene.
Police said that the bomb also injured over 30 people as the bomber used more than 10 kg of explosives.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast but the government blames militants for such attacks.
The bomb was detonated when the people were busy with morning shopping and a large number of people were present in a bank to draw salaries, witnesses said.
A former Intelligence Bureau Chief Masood Sharif Khatatk said the attack was aimed at targeting the families of soldiers who were present in the shopping center at the time of the blast.
Doctors said that several women and children were among those injured. The injured were taken to the nearby Army Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital.
A witness Zahid Dara told Xinhua that he had seen several military officers at the time of the blast. He said that he himself rescued some injured army officers after the blast.
Troops from the nearby army's General Headquarters and police cordoned off the main road and also barred TV cameramen and journalists to the blast site.
The blast also caused massive damages to buildings and vehicles nearby, as it occurred close to a parking lot of a hotel.
The police chief Rao Muhammad Iqbal said that preliminary investigation suggests that the bomber succeeded to reach the parking of Hotel Shalimar in the cantonment area.
According to media sources, all the schools across Rawalpindi have been closed after the blast on Monday and school children are being escorted by security officials to home.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the blast and said such attacks will not deter the government from campaign against the militants.
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