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PESHAWAR: Two people were killed and 28 others injured when a bomb exploded in the basement of a multi-storey plaza on the main University Road on Tuesday.
Cantonment Circle SP Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed said one man died on the spot and the other in hospital.
The injured were taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital where six of them were said to be in critical condition.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain described it as an act of terrorism and an attempt to pressurise the government. But, he said, the militants would never succeed in their design.
“A number of hardcore militants have been killed recently in Khyber Agency and the blast may be its reaction,” he said.
The minister said it was yet to be ascertained which Taliban group was involved in the attack. He said the government was determined to face the challenge.
Tahir Khan of the Azam Tower administration told Dawn that he had just come out of his office when the bomb exploded. He said that five internet cafés in the basement might have been the target.
“We had received no threat in the past but because of the tense situation the plaza administration had asked the owners of the net cafes to leave the building but they used delaying tactics,” he said.
An official of the bomb disposal unit said the blast was caused by six kg of explosives.
