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| At least 20 killed in blast at Pakistan market | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ISLAMABAD — At least 20 people killed and over 80 injured in an early morning blast here on Wednesday in a fruits and vegetables market on the outskirts of the city, police and doctors said. | |
| The blast was said to be high-intensity explosion and Pakistan’s capital city police said that around 5 kilograms of explosives were planted in crates of guava fruit that were brought from different cities to be sold at the market. The detonation left a foot deep crater and damaged nearby stalls and some vehicles. | The blast was said to be high-intensity explosion and Pakistan’s capital city police said that around 5 kilograms of explosives were planted in crates of guava fruit that were brought from different cities to be sold at the market. The detonation left a foot deep crater and damaged nearby stalls and some vehicles. |
| The doctors at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences put the death toll at 20 and they said that 80 injured people, some of them in critical condition, had been taken to hospitals in Islamabad and in nearby Rawalpindi. | |
| Among those killed and injured were fruit sellers, early morning shoppers and laborers. | |
| “I had gone to the market for buying fruits when the explosion took place. It was huge and I fell on the ground by its intensity. When I regained senses I saw dead bodies, blood on ground, injured people crying for help and others running here and there in panic,” said an eyewitness, Murad Khan, 40, who received minor bruises in the blast. | “I had gone to the market for buying fruits when the explosion took place. It was huge and I fell on the ground by its intensity. When I regained senses I saw dead bodies, blood on ground, injured people crying for help and others running here and there in panic,” said an eyewitness, Murad Khan, 40, who received minor bruises in the blast. |
| The explosion occurred at a time when the current Pakistani government led by prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is engaged in peace talks with the Pakistan Taliban know as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Taliban Movement for Pakistan. | The explosion occurred at a time when the current Pakistani government led by prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is engaged in peace talks with the Pakistan Taliban know as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Taliban Movement for Pakistan. |
| The talks are aimed at bringing peace to the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, including the restive North Waziristan, which is said to be the hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. | The talks are aimed at bringing peace to the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, including the restive North Waziristan, which is said to be the hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. |
| “At the time of the blast around 2,000 people were present in the market. It’s an act of terror, nobody has taken the responsibility so far but our investigations are on,” Khalid Khattak, Islamabad police chief. | “At the time of the blast around 2,000 people were present in the market. It’s an act of terror, nobody has taken the responsibility so far but our investigations are on,” Khalid Khattak, Islamabad police chief. |
| In as statement, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid condemned the blast and said his organization had nothing to do with it. |