Over 30 people were killed and thrice the number injured in two blasts that ripped through the Khyber Super Market in Peshawar soon after midnight on Sunday.
The dead include a journalist and a couple of policemen who had rushed to the spot after the first blast.
According to the police, rescue workers, police and journalists had swarmed the site after the first blast.
Within minutes, a second and larger explosion took place in the same area, which is within cantonment limits and includes both commercial and residential spaces.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts. In fact, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied any role in the twin explosions.
The AFP quoted a TTP spokesman as saying “it was an attempt by foreign secret agencies who are doing it to malign us”.
Further, according to the TTP, it targeted only the government and the military. The office of the political agent of the Khyber tribal agency and a residential complex of the Army are in the vicinity of the super market.
Initially, there was speculation that the first explosion was caused by a transformer blast but the subsequent explosion that consumed lives established the handiwork of terrorists who have been increasingly targeting security facilities and their properties. Last Sunday, terrorists had targeted an Army-run bakery, killing, among others, a Major's wife and child.
Police said approximately 10 kg of explosive material had been strapped to a motorcycle parked near the complex. Preliminary investigations by the Bomb Disposal Squad indicate a suicide-bomber.
Fire
Witnesses said a restaurant in the super market and several adjoining shops were badly damaged in the explosion, which also triggered a huge fire.
The explosion also caused a power breakdown in the area and security and rescue officials were forced to work in the dark.
Pakistani Taliban denies responsibility saying it targets only the government and the military
Preliminary investigations by the Bomb Disposal Squad indicate a suicide-bomber
