[Pak Daily Times] At least 20 people, mostly women and children, were killed, while more than 94 others were injured in a car bomb attack near the Kohat Police Lines on Tuesday.The car bomb ripped through a compound containing police officers' homes, a training facility and a commercial area, when people were busy in iftaari. The powerful blast destroyed two dozen houses and shops and rescuers were busy in pulling out bodies and the injured from the rubble.
"The dead were the wives and children of police officers," said Khalid Omarzai, the city's top government official, adding that another 94 people were also maimed.
Policeman Muhammad Arif said there was a huge kaboom in the residential area of the compound soon after iftaar. Power to the area was cut, forcing emergency workers to search for victims in the dark.
"This city is a war zone. We would always expect such attacks," said Omarzai.
President Asif Ali (
Ten Percent) Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani have strongly condemned the attack and stressed that hard boyz would never be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs.
"Such reprehensible acts only strengthen the resolve of the government and the people of Pakistain, who are determined to eradicate this menace," the president said.
The president expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
"While the nation is passing through difficult times due to floods, these cowards are mercilessly killing innocent Mohammedans when they are breaking their fasts during the holy month of Ramazan in their homes," the prime minister said.
Kohat has been the scene of several terrorist attacks this year. In April, two burqa-clad boomers attacked people lined up to register for food and other relief supplies in the district, killing 41 persons and wounding dozens more.