Deadly explosion in Pakistan's Khyber region

10/01/2012| IslamWeb

A suspected bomb blast near a fuel station in the Jamrud area of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber tribal region has killed at least 26 people and wounded at least 40 others, regional government officials said.

"It was huge blast and caused damage to a number of vehicles at the bus terminal," Khan Zaman, a Khyber tribesman from the Jamrud bazaar, around 25km west of Peshawar, said on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said it was not yet clear who was behind the bombing.

"We were told the explosions were packed in a vehicle that was parked in the busy bazaar area of Jamrud. After the explosion there were heavy casualties. Officials are confirming that at least 26 people were killed on the spot and another 40 were wounded."

Shakeel Khan Umarzai, a local administration official, confirmed the blast and said: "We are trying to determine the nature of the explosion; whether it was a planted bomb or what."

PHOTO CAPTION

Men walk past trucks, transporting cement bags to Afghanistan, at a checkpoint in Jamrud in Pakistan's Khyber region December 13, 2011.

Al-Jazeera