Car bomb hits Pakistani police station, 6 killed

Car bomb hits Pakistani police station, 6 killed

2011-05-25 19:19:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A suicide blast against a Pakistani police station killed at least six police officers in the northern region of the country, officials said Wednesday.

The attack occurred at around 4:40 a.m. local time when a suicide bomber slammed an explosive-filled vehicle into a Center of Investigation Department police station in Peshawar, located in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which destroyed the three-story building, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Bashir Bilour told the Nation.

In addition to the six fatal victims, 39 people were wounded, 17 of them in critical condition, including a child and 9 police officers. At the time of the blast, around 25 to 27 people were reportedly inside the building.

Rescue teams rushed to the scene after the strong blast, which used around 250 kilograms of explosives (551 pounds), retrieving the dead bodies from the rubble and helping those trapped. The injured were transported to Hayatabad Medical Complex from Khyber Teaching Hospital, officials said.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the suicide bomb blast, asking law enforcement agencies to step up their measures to protect people from terrorism and ordering an investigation into the incident.

The U.S. Embassy also strongly condemned the attack.

"We share in the grief of the family and friends of those who were killed and injured," the Embassy said. "The violent extremists who committed this latest outrage, like those who have exploded bombs and launched attacks across this country, have shown that they will stop at nothing as they seek to murder and terrorize."

The Embassy also stated that the U.S. stood by Pakistan "in common cause against the terrorists who threaten Pakistan's peace, prosperity, and sovereignty."

Terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility of the attack through their spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, saying it was to avenge the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

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