Suicide Bomber Strikes in Peshawar; Three Killed, 17 Injured

In the latest suicide bomb attack, two people have been killed in Pakistani city of Peshawar when the bomber detonated his explosives outside a press club.

Peshawar’s police chief, Liaquat Ali Khan, said that as bomber approached the press club’s gate, policemen tried to search him, an attempt which he resisted and was able to trigger his explosives, killing the officer and an accountant who worked for the organization.

Sahib Gul, a doctor at a hospital where the three bodies were brought, said that a woman present at the site of explosion died of cardiac arrest.

According to reports, nearly 17 people were wounded in the blast, many of whom were aboard a bus that passed the press club at the time of explosion.

In the blast, press club’s windows and gate, and surrounding buildings were damaged.

Peshawar has been hit by at least seven attacks in the past two months in retaliation for a military offensive launched in mid-October against the militant stronghold of South Waziristan in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area near the Afghan border. A single attack in late October in a market popular with women and children in Peshawar killed 112 people.

The Peshawar Press Club targeted in Tuesday’s attack is a well-known landmark in the city, and many journalists congregate there. A provincial labor minister was scheduled to hold a press conference at the club later Tuesday, said the organization’s president, Shamim Shahid.

He praised the police officer who prevented the bomber from entering the building.

“The policeman averted a major incident by sacrificing his life,” said Shahid.