A powerful explosion ripped through a crowded wholesale fruit market in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday morning, killing at least 20 people and injuring at least 50 more, according to hospital and police officials. The death toll is expected to rise.
There was no claim of responsibility, and the Pakistani Taliban, who have announced a cease-fire until Thursday as they hold peace talks with the government, denied any involvement.
The explosion occurred at 8:05 a.m. in a busy wholesale fruit and vegetable market on the outskirts of Islamabad. The powerful blast was heard for miles and caused panic in the city as word of it spread during the morning rush hour.
The market is in a vast open area where vendors and buyers gather early in the morning to buy produce in bulk. Security is ordinarily lax, and most of the trucks and crates of fruits and vegetables are delivered to the market without undergoing any inspections.
Police officials said that an initial investigation determined that the explosives were placed in cartons of guava and were detonated by a remote-controlled device.
The explosion left charred debris and pools of blood around the market. Nine people were listed in critical condition at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, according to Dr. Ayesha Isani, the hospital spokeswoman. Several other victims were taken to hospitals in neighboring Rawalpindi.
Taliban officials condemned the attack.
“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan strongly condemns Sibi Railway Station and fruit market blasts,” Shahidullah Shahid, the Taliban spokesman, said in a statement released to the news media, referring to both Wednesday’s blast and an explosion at a railway station in southwestern Pakistan that killed at least 17 people on Tuesday. “Attacks on public places and targeting innocent people is regrettable and un-Islamic.”
The civilian government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is engaged in a peace dialogue with the Taliban. But the government’s strategy to deal with militants has been met with criticism, and the powerful military and opposition political parties have objected to the government’s negotiating strategy, which they say is fueling perceptions that the government is ceding too much ground to the militants...
Source: News in Hindi
No comments:
Post a Comment