ISLAMABAD, March 16: Unlike other recent terrorist attacks in which suicide bombers were involved, the explosion in a restaurant here on Saturday was caused by locally made ‘timed device’.

The bomb had been placed near a table in the restaurant’s backyard garden, said a source close to the investigation.

“Such a device was not used in any of the terrorist attacks in recent months. The investigators are trying to find out which group is behind the attack on the restaurant,” the source said.

The investigation team has questioned the restaurant staff and injured survivors.

“Except those who were not allowed by doctors, all other injured people are being questioned. Nobody has been arrested for investigation so far,” said a senior police official on Sunday.

Forensic experts also visited the Luna Caprese restaurant and collected some evidences, including pallets and nails used in the device.

Islamabad IGP Shahid Nadeem Baloch told Dawn that the investigation team had been working on different lines. However, the forensic experts’ report is yet to be received.

He said it would be too early to ascertain whether the device had been planted or hurled from outside.

All the injured people are stated to be in a stable condition. Two of them underwent surgery and were said to be doing well.

Anti-Terrorist Squad personnel have been deployed in hospitals where foreign nationals are being treated.

The source said the ‘time fuse device’ containing two to two-and-half kg of explosives had been placed in the backyard garden. It killed a Turkish woman and injured more than a dozen people. The explosion left a crater of two feet radius.

“Usually a small clock is fixed with a timed device. Nothing was found from the blast site which could help the investigators to trace how the device was planted and who had done it,” a senior official said.

Rejecting a report that the bomb had been hurled from another house, a senior security official insisted the device had been planted near a table.

The blast in the heavily-guarded area in the federal capital has raised several questions and people are accusing security agencies being negligent.

An FIR of the incident was registered with the Kohsar police under the Terrorism and Explosive Act.

AFP adds from Tokyo: Two journalists from Japan’s Kyodo News were injured in the powerful blast that tore through the Italian restaurant, the news agency said in Tokyo.

Kyodo News said the two were its Islamabad bureau chief Motonobu Endo, 32, and former bureau chief Toshihisa Onishi, 34.

Onishi suffered a broken jaw in the explosion and was taken to hospital. “His injuries are not life-threatening,” the news agency said citing hospital officials.

Endo suffered slight injuries, Kyodo said.