Blasts rock Pakistan's cantonment area, over 20 killed

Rawalpindi, Sep 4 (UNI) More than 20 people were killed as two powerful blasts rocked the cantonment area here this morning, in a fresh resurgence of terrorist violence in Pakistan ahead of the proposed election between September 15 and October 15.

One bomb exploded in a bus carrying Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission employees in Qasim market at around 0730 hrs local time.

The militants used a motorbike to trigger the other blast at R A bazaar which is just four km from Qasim market.

While officials put the toll at 11, sources said at least 20 people were killed. Geo TV channel put the toll at 22.

A state of emergency has been declared in both Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi said the blasts were a fallout of the situation in Afghanistan. Agencies had warned the government of the possibilities of such attacks.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema, the bus was carrying employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

However, Major General Waheed Arshad, military spokesman, said authorities were trying to ascertain the wing in which the victims worked.

Meanwhile, Federal Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid told Geo TV that such incidents would hamper the election process between mid-September and October.

President Pervez Musharraf is said to be holding secret talks with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to strike a deal under which he could continue as President and she could return home to contest the election.

Another former prime minister Nawaz Shariff has announced that he would return to Pakistan on September 10.

UNI