BANNU, July 25: At least nine people were killed and 41 others, including seven policemen, were injured when five rockets, fired by militants, hit heavily-populated parts of the city in early hours of Wednesday, officials and residents of the area said.

At least five rockets, fired from different locations, hit two houses and a bookshop in the heart of the city. Police said that three rockets exploded, while two were defused.

Residents said that most of the casualties were caused by a rocket which fell and exploded in the middle of a crowd which had gathered in the Chai Bazaar area to carry out rescue in the house of Sher Daraz which was earlier hit by another rocket at about 1.30am that did not explode.

The rocket, which fell in the middle of the crowd, left seven men and a woman dead, and 41 others wounded.

“The rescue work was going on when the second rocket landed in the middle of the crowd, causing huge casualties,” said a resident.

The victims, including three students of a nearby madressah, have been identified as Farman, Qasim Khan, Imran, Shakirullah, Hafiz Roohullah, Umar Siddiq Khan, Zainullah and Farzana. The name of one victim could not be ascertained till our going to press.

Hospital sources said that the condition of five injured men was critical and they had been shifted to Peshawar.

Witnesses said that shortly after the first two rockets, three more rockets landed in residential areas in the middle of the city. Two rockets, one of which failed to explode, hit a house in the Gohakhel locality, while the third landed on the upper storey of Rehmania Kutubkhana, a book shop, destroying it completely.

The building immediately caught fire but no loss of life was reported.

NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who belongs to Bannu, condemned the attack and announced a compensation of Rs100,000 for each of the dead and Rs50,000 each for the injured.

Residents said that fear and tension had gripped the Bannu city, which is situated near the tribal region.

On Wednesday, a religious organisation, Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat, took out a procession to protest against the attack.

The local leadership of the MMA on Wednesday announced that a strike would be observed in the city on Thursday to condemn the rocket attacks.

REUTERS ADDS: Five rockets landed within 30 minutes soon after midnight, causing loud explosions that spread panic in the town, police officer Mohammad Ghulam said.

“Police have sealed all entry and exit points and also tightened security in the town,” the officer said.

He said the attack was a possible reprisal for the suicide on Tuesday of Abdullah Mehsud, a top militant commander, who killed himself with a grenade after being cornered by security forces in Balochistan.