Bloody Rawalpindi suicide attack toll reaches 34, over 40 injured

Rawalpindi, Nov. 2 (ANI): The death toll in the suspected suicide attack that rocked Pakistan's Rawalpindi city on Monday morning has reached 30, while over 40 people have been injured, police say.

"Two men arrived in the car park on a motorbike, and blew themselves up. The men were probably wearing explosive jackets and the bike was definitely packed with material as well. That was why the explosion was so powerful," BBC quoted Police Supt Rana Shahid, as saying.

The blast took place at 10:40 am in a car park behind the four-star Shalimar hotel, next to a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan, outside where customers had been queuing.

The GHQ is located 500 yards away from the blast site.

One survivor, Rizwan Mehmood, said he had come to the bank to pay a traffic fine when the explosion went off.

"Just before the blast I saw a woman with three children in a vehicle in the car park. After the blast, I saw the car they were sitting in, and it was completely destroyed," he said.

No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack so far.

The blast comes at a time when the Pakistani army is involved in a massive offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan.

There have been several retaliatory attacks since the offensive began last month, including a deadly car bomb blast in Peshawar n Wednesday that killed over 100 people. (ANI)