Three killed in Pakistan press-club suicide blast

Two people were killed today when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a press club in north-western Pakistan, officials said.

Two people were killed today when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a press club in north-western Pakistan, officials said.

The blast in Peshawar is the latest in a string of attacks to strike the city since the military launched a major offensive near the Afghan border.

A policeman tried to search the attacker as he approached the press club’s gate, but the man resisted and was able to trigger his explosives, killing the officer and an accountant who worked for the organisation, said Peshawar’s police chief, Liaquat Ali Khan.

A woman who was at the site of the attack apparently died of cardiac arrest, said Sahib Gul, a doctor at a hospital in Peshawar where the three bodies were taken.

Seventeen other people were injured in the attack, many of whom were travelling in a bus which was passing the press club when the explosion occurred, said Mr Gul.

The blast blew out the press club’s windows and slightly damaged the gate and several surrounding buildings.

Peshawar has been hit by at least seven attacks in the past two months in retaliation for a military offensive launched in mid-October against the militant stronghold of South Waziristan in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area near the Afghan border. A single attack in late October in a market popular with women and children in Peshawar killed 112 people.

The Peshawar Press Club targeted in today’s attack is a well-known landmark in the city, and many journalists congregate there.

A provincial labour minister was scheduled to hold a press conference at the club later today, said the organisation’s president, Shamim Shahid.

He praised the police officer who prevented the bomber from entering the building.

“The policeman averted a major incident by sacrificing his life,” said Mr Shahid.

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