PESHAWAR: As people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hoped for some respite from terrorist attacks in the wake of moves for peace talks between the government and militants, a suicide blast ripped through a restaurant near an Imambargah in a congested city locality of Kocha Risaldar on Tuesday evening, leaving nine people dead and around 50 injured.
Till late night there was no claim of responsibility for the dastardly act.
According to witnesses, the bomber blew himself up when people were having dinner in the restaurant near Imambargah Alamdar.
The restaurant is on the ground floor of Pak Hotel mostly frequented by Shias coming from outside Peshawar.
Almost all the deceased and injured belong to Parachinar in Kurram Agency.
Police officers said mutilated limbs and a head found at the place might be of the bomber.
Talking to reporters, SSP (Operations) Najibur Rehman confirmed that it was a suicide blast.
It was the second bomb attack in two days near Qissa Khwani Bazaar. On Sunday, twin blasts in a cinema on a nearby road killed five people. Earlier in the day, Sardar Ali Asghar, a leader of the Tehreek Nifaz Fiqah-i-Jaffria, was killed in a nearby area.
Provincial Health Minister Shaukat Yousufzai said two children and eight women were among the injured. He termed the attack an attempt to sabotage the peace process between the government and militants. He said seven severely injured people had been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Lady Reading Hospital.
Rescue workers faced difficulties in taking the injured and bodies to the hospital because ambulances could not pass through the narrow street.
“When we heard the blast, we rushed to the site to help rescue workers,” a shopkeeper told Dawn.
He said everyone was crying for help and bodies and the injured lay scattered in the street and the destroyed restaurant.
There were pools of blood in the main hall of the restaurant. The Imambargah and five shops adjoining the hotel were damaged.
Several water supply pipes were also damaged and water flowed onto the street.
Mumtaz Hussain, the owner of the hotel, and Safar Ali, Syed Hussain, Noor Qambar, Aon Ali, Hasan Ali and Mohsam Ali were among those killed.
The same hotel had come under a suicide attack on Dec 6, 2008.
