57 killed in Pak blast; Taliban claims responsibility

Islamabad, Aug 21 (UNI) At least 57 people were killed and more than 40 injured in twin suicide attacks near two gates of Pakistan's main armament manufacturing factory in Wah town today.

Local police officials said the bombers blew themselves up at two gates of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, 30 kilometres from here while civilian workers were finishing their duty and leaving for home.

Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

''It is in reaction of the ongoing military operations in Bajaur tribal region where innocent civilians are being killed,'' a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Maulvi Omar said.

This was the second major terror incident since President Pervez Musharraf stepped down on Monday. A suicide bomber blew himself up and killed 30 civilians in northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town on Tuesday after they gathered at a hospital to protest sectarian killing of a Shiite Muslim.

Police and security forces cordoned off the area while security has been put on high alert across Punjab province.

Witnesses said they saw mutilated bodies and injured people lying in pool of blood near the site after the blasts, which took place with a gap of just one minute. Dozens of private and military ambulances rushed to the site to shift bodies and injured to hospitals.

UNI XC PD HT1818