Suicide blast in Rawalpindi cantonment kills 34

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy commercial area near the Army's General Headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Monday, killing at least 34 people, including military personnel, in the latest in a series of deadly terrorist attacks that have rocked Pakistan.

The motorcycle-borne bomber detonated his explosives outside a state-run bank, causing considerable damage to the facade of Shalimar Hotel on Mall Road, less than a kilometre from the army's fortified General Headquarters that was besieged by a group of terrorists nearly a month ago.

Rescue service officials put the death toll at 34 while police said 45 injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Many people, including pensioners, who had come to the National Bank to collect their salaries and pensions, were among those killed and injured in the blast that occurred at 10.40 am.

Police officials said the suicide bomber blew himself up outside the bank when police teams tried to intercept him. Witnesses said at least two military police personnel, five women and several private security guards and passers-by were killed.

Several army officers' messes, sensitive military installations and other hotels are located near Shalimar Hotel. Military police and paramilitary personnel cordoned off the area and diverted traffic from the road in front of the hotel.

Ambulances rushed bodies and the injured to hospitals, where an emergency was declared. Several cars and motorcycles parked outside the hotel and the bank were damaged by the explosion, which also shattered the windows of nearby buildings.

Zahid Dara, who witnessed the attack, told reporters: "I fell off my motorcycle when the blast occurred. People began running helter-skelter in panic... I saw the blast had occurred outside the hotel, near which there are several banks, travel agencies and other offices."

Dara said he had seen private security guards and army personnel among the dead and injured. "Several people in cars that were passing the hotel were also killed," he said.

The attack came nearly a month after an audacious terrorist strike on the General Headquarters in which 14 people were killed before most of the attackers were gunned down by army commandos. The attackers had also taken nearly 50 people hostage in an office of the Military Intelligence agency.

All schools in Rawalpindi were closed soon after the attack. Pakistan has witnessed a series of deadly suicide attacks and bombings over the past few weeks that have killed hundreds of people.

Nearly 120 people, mostly women and children, were killed in a car bomb attack in a commercial hub in Peshawar last week. Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan, against whom the army has launched a major offensive in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region.

The military says nearly 310 militants and about 35 soldiers have died so far in fighting in the area bordering Afghanistan.