WORLD TOWNCRIER

Rescue workers, police officers and
civilians gather at the site of a car bomb
explosion in Peshawar, Pakistan, on
Sunday, September 29. A car loaded
with 485 pounds of explosives went off
in the city's historic Qissa Khawani
bazaar.


At least 40 people were
killed and about 100 were wounded after a bomb
exploded at a bazaar in Peshawar on Sunday, officials
at a Pakistani hospital said.
A car carrying 220 kilograms (485 pounds) of
explosives detonated in the city's historic Qissa
Khawani bazaar, destroying at least 10 shops and
several vehicles and leaving a huge crater, said Shafqat
Malik, chief of the bomb disposal unit.
The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban, condemned the
attack and denied any involvement.
Alamzeb Khan was working at a nearby tea stall Sunday
when he felt the earth shake. The impact of the blast
knocked him to the ground.
"When I got up, everything was on fire. Women and
children were burning in (a) Suzuki pickup, and a
number of vehicles were destroyed, besides the shops
(that) were also on fire," Khan said.
The death toll is expected to rise, as most of the
wounded are critically injured, said Dr. Arshad Javed,
chief executive of Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
Already, people are sharing stories of incredible loss.
One family traveled to Peshawar to attend a wedding.
Now they're planning a mass funeral. In all, the family
lost 18 members in the attack, including children.
Bus blast in Pakistan kills at least 17
A gruesome week
Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's volatile Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, has endured a violent week.
On Monday, 81 people were killed in a suicide bombing
at a Protestant church in one of the deadliest attacks
ever on the Christian community in Pakistan.
A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban claimed
responsibility, saying the attack was in response to U.S.
drone strikes in tribal areas.
And on Friday, at least 17 people were killed and more
than 30 others wounded in an explosion that ripped
through a bus carrying government employees.
Tackling religious intolerance and violence in Pakistan
Sikander Khan Sherpao, senior minister of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, suggested the attack had been carried
out by forces wanting to sabotage recent efforts by the
national government to pursue peace talks with the
Pakistani Taliban.
The recent bombings have raised concerns about the
government's ability to provide security. Sunday
evening, after a meeting of provincial officials, the
creation of task forces to help maintain peace in
Peshawar was announced.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for
Sunday's attack at the bazaar. The Pakistani Taliban
decried the loss of innocent life but at the same time
struck a defiant note. "We are targeting the government
machinery and the law enforcement agencies but not
general public," said spokesman Shaidullah Shaid.
Qissa Khawani bazaar, or the "storytellers' market," was
the site of a bloody massacre in April 1930 when British
soldiers fired on peaceful demonstrators, killing
hundreds. At the time, Pakistan was part of India, and
India was under British rule.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is rife with Islamic extremists and
has been the site of clashes between Pakistani security
forces and militants.
Earlier this month, Pakistani officials announced plans
to pursue peace talks with Taliban militants and
withdraw troops from parts of the volatile northwestern
region, which borders Afghanistan.