WATU 10 WAUAWA NA WENGINE 20 KUJERUHIWA BAADA YA MLIPUKO KUTOKEA KATIKA UKUMBI WA KUTAZAMIA CINEMA
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At least 10 people have been killed and 20 others
wounded in an explosion targeting a cinema in Pakistan's northwestern
city of Peshawar, Al Jazeera's correspondents have said.
Tuesday's blast hit Shama cinema, known to show adult rated movies,
and is owned by the Bilour family, one of the most powerful political
families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said our reporters.
City police chief Mohammad Ijaz Ahmed said three grenades were used and up to 80 people were in the cinema at the time.
The attack came as negotiators for the
Pakistani government and for Taliban fighters met for a second time as
part of efforts to end the seven-year conflict.
The main Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed group, whose
representatives are in talks with the government, denied responsibility
for that attack.
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reported that there is a feeling in the
country that a third force is trying to sabotage talks between the
government and the Pakistani Taliban.
Second attack in 10 days
Bashir Bilour, a former senior minister in the province, was killed in 2012 in a suicide attack. Shama had continued to operate as a result of the Bilour’s political links despite threats in the past.
Reports said there was a specific threat against the cinema in the
past few weeks, leading to increased security, but staff had only just
returned to "normal" security levels when this attack occurred.
The blast is the second attack in a matter of days.
In the same city on Monday, a suicide bomber's explosive vest went
off in the house of a pro-government tribal elder, killing four women,
police said.
It was not clear if the attacker set the vest off deliberately. He
had run into the home of the elder, Jan Mohammad Afridi, in the city's
Chamkani area, after local residents found him suspicious and the police
started chasing him, said police chief Ahsan Shah.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which lies
next to tribal areas that are bases for several networks including the
Pakistani Taliban.
It was not known if Afridi, who was in the opposite part of the house
at the time, was the initial target. Shah said police surrounded the
house and exchanged gunfire with the bomber.
At some point, his explosives were detonated although it was unclear
whether the assailant blew himself up or if one of the bullets from the
gunfire set off the explosives.
Shah said half of Afridi's house was completely destroyed in the
blast and that four bodies of women were recovered from the rubble.
ALJAZEERA ENGLISH |
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