In Peshawar, Press Club now a terrorist target: four killed in suicide blast

Four people, including a woman, were killed and 24 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on Tuesday.
The victims have been identified as Head Constable Riazuddin Khan, son of Kareem Khan of Patwar Bala village in suburbs of Peshawar; Iqbal Shah, Accountant, Press Club; a passer-by woman Robina Shaheen, daughter of Ghulam Ghaus and an unidentified person. Iqbal Shah succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
According to an eyewitness, Yasir Jamil, who is the club's employee, said that a young man, wearing black coat, was found exchanging hot words with the policeman and trying to enter the main club's building. When he was denied entry, he blew himself up. "As the blast occurred, I fell on the ground and then did not know as to what had happened," he said.
Another eyewitness Nadir Khwaja said that he was coming from the other side of the road and escaped unhurt as a minibus came in the meantime. He said most of the injured were passengers of the minibus. The blast occurred at about 11.40 am when dozens of journalists were sitting in the club's lawn. Some of them were in the library, cafeteria and net café. The blast was so huge, which were heard in far away areas.
The injured persons were immediately rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital. An official Jamil Shah said that 27 people were brought to the hospital and of them three were dead. Five of the injured were stated to be in precarious condition. The injured have been identified as Abdul Nabi, Abdul Rehman, Abid Naveed, Ajmal Khan, Asif, Aurangzeb, Ayub, Hamayun Khan, Haq Nawaz, Imran Khan, Kamran, Khurram Pervez, Mohammad Fayaz, M.Iqbal Shah, Mehar Nigar, Minhaj, Mohammad Said, Nasar Jamal, Nadar Gul, Raees Gul, Raees Khan, Tauseef and Yasir Jameel.
Three of the Press Club employees, Ayub, Kamran, Yasir Jameel and Accountant Mian Iqbal Shah also sustained injuries. A journalist Khurram Pervez, special branch employees Mohammad Said, Fahim and one district security personnel Minhaj also sustained injuries.
According to Khurshid Khan, an official of the Bomb Disposal Unit, about eight kilograms of explosive mixed with ball bearings had been used in the blast, saying that in this explosion weight of explosive was more than the rest of suicide jackets.
Khurshid said that the bombers legs and head were found from the crime scene, who seemed to be 18-year-old with long hears and thin beard, which were preserved for DNA tests. The blast caused damages to the club's building where most of the windows, doors were uprooted and the main gate broken. Two rooms, meant for security purpose and accounts, were destroyed.
Capital City Police Officer Liaquat Ali told media persons that killing of the policeman proved that police had tightened security at all sensitive points, saying that if the bomber had succeeded to enter the main building, the casualties would have been much more.
Meanwhile, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the direct attack on journalists showed that terrorists were trying to target wherever they could even at places of worship. NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour, Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah, Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak, MPAs of different parties visited the Press Club and condemned the blast.