23 people died, 60 were left injured in a blast in Landa Bazar, Parachinar, Waqt News reported. “The area is highly sensitive and it has been targeted before by terrorists,” media reported. According to sources security forces have surrounded and sealed the area. “Rescue teams have reached the site and the injured are being transferred to the Agency Headquarter hospital,” a reporter on the spot told Waqt News.
“The area is central. It is the most famous bazaar of Parachinar because of which large number of people come here for shopping,” the reporter said. “The magnitude of blast was huge and the voice was heard in far away areas,” he added. “The death toll is feared to rise because from the 20 people (initially) transferred to the hospital, 10 are in critical situation.”
The doctors are trying to shift the critically injured to the developed hospitals of Hangu and other nearby areas.
According to reports Armed forces have started the search operation in the area.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has severely condemned the blast and has asked for provision of quick rescue facilities to the injured. "Our war will continue till the extermination of the last terrorist," he said in a statement.
Furthermore Federal Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar has taken notice and ordered authorities to present the report of the issue immediately. According to the latest reports security forces have arrested two suspicious persons from the blast site.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has also condemned the blast. "It is the worst incident of terrorism in Parachinar in recent past," he stated. "Those involved should be punished severely," he added.
Initial investigation said it was a planted bomb detonated with a remote-controlled device. Security sources said the explosion was carried out through a planted device and that two suspects have been taken into custody from the blast site.
The agency is adjacent to North Waziristan where Operation Zarb-i-Azb is in progress against the Tehreek-i-Taliban and other insurgent groups. The military had also launched offensives against militants in 2011.
Parachinar is the administrative headquarters of the agency near the Afghan border. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.