A powerful bomb blast, believed to be triggered by a suicide bomber on Tuesday killed at least 25 persons and injured 29 in a popular hotel in the heart of Peshawar.
Eyewitnesses said an old man with a sack on his head had entered the Marhba hotel located close to the ancient mosque of Mahabat Khan and frequented by Afghan refugees and tribesmen.
The police noted that there was no crater which lends credence to suspicion that it was a suicide blast. The hotel building was badly damaged.
Provincial Chief Minister Akram Durrani said it was a suicide attack and said two blown up legs of the bomber were found.
Media reports said these carried an inscription: “This will be the fate of American spies.”
Analysts, however, wondered why ordinary people were targeted.
The motive for killing ordinary people could not be immediately known but provincial law minister Zafar Alam said it could well be designed to divert attention from the current judicial and political crisis.
Durrani, who leads the government of religious grouping, the Muttahida Majlise Amal, said a series of blasts in recent months were designed to destabilise the peaceful atmosphere of his province. He complained that the federal government had denied him requisite funds and equipment to raise the police strength.
