Twin bomb blast kills 15, including 8 policemen in Bannu

PESHAWAR - At least 15 people, including eight policemen were killed and 24 other injured in twin bomb blasts outside a police training centre in Bannu.

This is the third such attack on security personnel in the region in the last 24 hours.

District Police Officer (DPO) Iqbal Marwat was also injured in the blast as he was returning from regular patrolling.

According to sources, one of the blasts was triggered by a suicide bomber. However, there is no official confirmation over the nature of the explosions.

All the injured people have been admitted to a local hospital, where condition of many is said to be critical.

“Iqbal Marwat is seriously injured. We are trying to arrange a helicopter to evacuate him to Peshawar … there are 15 dead.Eight policemen, a child and six civilians have been killed,” a doctor at the hospital told a foreign news agency.

“There were two blasts. The first one was near the gate. The second was a suicide attack. We have confirmed reports it was a suicide attack,” The Daily Times quoted city’s senior administrator Sardar Abbas, as saying.

No extremist group has taken the responsibility for the twin blast.

Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have condemned the attacks.

Zardari said such “cowardly acts” would not deter the government’s resolve to root out terrorism.

Meanwhile, Gilani has ordered the authorities to provide the best medical facilities to those injured, and probe the bombings.

On Wednesday, 18 people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a police patrol in Khyber Agency. (ANI)