September 08, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 07, 1429

PESHAWAR, Sept 7: The death toll in Saturday’s suicide attack on a police checkpost rose to 36 and two missing constables, Shahjehan Khan and Samiullah, were considered dead, although their bodies could not be found despite a daylong search on Sunday.

The bodies of five other policemen had been recovered from the debris after the blast.

The constables were posted at a picket near the Zhangali checkpost.

An FIR of the blast was registered at the Badabher police station against unidentified saboteurs under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosive Substance Act.

This was the most devastating suicide attack in the provincial capital since the blast at a hotel on the Naz Cinema Road on May 16 last year in which 25 people were killed and 35 injured.Official sources said the double-cabin Land Cruiser used in the attack had been earlier seen in Dara Adamkhel. It passed through a checkpoint at Mathani, between Dara and Zhangali, but it was not stopped because the driver had loaded quilts in the rear of the vehicle to conceal the explosives.

The rescue work was mostly carried by local people.

A large number of people gathered at the place early on Sunday morning and started removing the rubble of about 40 shops in two double-storey markets.

The local police had on Saturday put the death toll at around 35 with at least 100 injured.One of the injured, Khairullah Khan, died at the Lady Reading Hospital on Sunday.

The health officials feared that the toll might rise further as some of the injured were in serious condition.

The people engaged in search and rescue work were complaining about what they called little help provided by government agencies in removing the debris.

The excavators which were used had been provided by a private contractor.

“We don’t know where to go and who to ask for help,” said Amjid Ali, who had lost his father.

He said he would have to stop his education because he would have to take care of his younger brothers and sisters.

“Nothing is done by the government and all their claims are mere statements. The operators of excavators are helping us on humanitarian grounds and the government has not even provided fuel for them,” said Jan Badshah, relative of a missing policeman.