Peshawar:
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the office of a senior government official in the restive Mohmand tribal region in northwest Pakistan on Friday killing at least 19 people and injuring 80 others.
The attacker detonated his explosives outside the office of the assistant political agent at Yakaghund village in Mohmand Agency. A large number of people were present outside the office and in a nearby market, witnesses said.
At least 15 people were killed instantly and four more succumbed to their injuries in a hospital in Peshawar, witnesses and officials said. Eighty others were injured in the blast, they said.
A prison, some other government offices and dozens of shops were damaged by the powerful explosion. Several buildings collapsed and officials said some people could be buried under the debris.
The state-run Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar received 54 wounded people and four of them; a woman, a child and two men succumbed to their injuries, said Rahim Jan Afridi, the hospital's Medical Superintendent.
About 10 of the injured are in a serious condition, he said. Security forces cordoned off the area around the site of the blast as rescue workers began clearing the rubble and removing the bodies and the injured.
A witness told the media that the suicide bomber had come to the market on a motorcycle. The attacker did not stop when security personnel asked him to. "Then he suddenly fell and there was a powerful blast," the witness said.
Ambulances and heavy machinery were sent to Yakaghund from Peshawar to help the rescue operations. The Pakistan Army has been conducting operations against the local Taliban in Mohmand Agency.
The attacker detonated his explosives outside the office of the assistant political agent at Yakaghund village in Mohmand Agency. A large number of people were present outside the office and in a nearby market, witnesses said.
At least 15 people were killed instantly and four more succumbed to their injuries in a hospital in Peshawar, witnesses and officials said. Eighty others were injured in the blast, they said.
A prison, some other government offices and dozens of shops were damaged by the powerful explosion. Several buildings collapsed and officials said some people could be buried under the debris.
The state-run Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar received 54 wounded people and four of them; a woman, a child and two men succumbed to their injuries, said Rahim Jan Afridi, the hospital's Medical Superintendent.
About 10 of the injured are in a serious condition, he said. Security forces cordoned off the area around the site of the blast as rescue workers began clearing the rubble and removing the bodies and the injured.
A witness told the media that the suicide bomber had come to the market on a motorcycle. The attacker did not stop when security personnel asked him to. "Then he suddenly fell and there was a powerful blast," the witness said.
Ambulances and heavy machinery were sent to Yakaghund from Peshawar to help the rescue operations. The Pakistan Army has been conducting operations against the local Taliban in Mohmand Agency.
