Blast kills 23 in Dera Ghazi Khan

Tuesday, 15 Dec, 2009

The blast in Dera Ghazi Khan was the latest in a series of suicide and other explosions that have killed more than 500 people in Pakistan since October. — Photo by AP

DERA GHAZI KHAN: A bomb exploded in Dera Ghazi Khan’s Khosa market on Tuesday, killing 23, including two women and two minors, and injuring at least 60, DawnNews quoted hospital sources as saying.

The blast occurred at a taxi stand near the residence of provincial minister Dost Mohammad Khosa.

The blast in Dera Ghazi Khan was the latest in a series of suicide and other explosions that have killed more than 500 people in Pakistan since October. The bloodshed has been blamed on militants retaliating for an army offensive against the Taliban in the country's northwest.

Local commissioner Hasan Iqbal said Tuesday's explosion appeared to be a car bomb.

It left a massive crater and was heard from a half-a-mile away, he said. The home of Zulfiqar Khosa, senior adviser to the chief minister of Punjab province, was badly damaged in the blast, as were several shops in the market.

‘It is a terrorist activity,’ said Iqbal, who said a dozen wounded people were shifted to hospitals.

Zulfiqar Khosa was not believed to be at the house at the time of the explosion.

'It was a car bomb. A car laden with explosives rammed into the gate of my residence,' Zulfiqar Khosa said.

'Many buildings located in the area have been demolished,' he said.

Raza Khan, a local resident at the scene, said people were panicking.

‘The whole market has collapsed,’ he told The Associated Press by phone. ‘There is smoke and people running here and there.’

Militants have staged several attacks in the eastern Punjab province to illustrate their reach across the country, far beyond the northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Several hard-line religious schools operate in Dera Ghazi Khan. The town has also experienced sectarian attacks pitting Sunni and Shia Muslims against each other.