| June 2011 Peshawar bombings | |
|---|---|
| Location | Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan |
| Date | 12 June 2011 |
| Attack type | Suicide bombing |
| Deaths | 34+[1] |
| Injured | 100+[1] |
| Perpetrator(s) | Unknown |
| Suspected perpetrator(s) | Pakistani Taliban[2] |
|
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The June 2011 Peshawar bombings occurred on 12 June 2011 in Peshawar, Pakistan.[1] At least 34 people were killed and more than 90 were injured when two bombs exploded in a market soon after midnight.[3] The first bomb went off around 11:50 pm local time in Khyber market area and injured 3 people. After a crowd gathered in the area, a teen-aged suicide bomber on a motorcycle set off a second explosion killing many people on the spot.[2] About 10 kilograms of explosives were used in the second blast according to officials.[4] Police and rescue teams soon reached the spot and cordoned the area.[5]
Two journalists Asfandyar Abid Naveed, of Akhbar-e-Khyber, and Shafiullah Khan, of The News (Pakistan), were killed covering the double suicide bombing.[6][7][8][9][10][11]Nasrullah Khan Afridi, of the Khyber News Agency, Pakistan Television, Mashreq, was killed May 10, 2011, in the same Khyber Super Market as Naveed and Khan.[12][13]
While the Taliban were suspected to have carried out the attack, the Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan denied responsibility and blamed the attack on "foreign agents." "We did not carry out this attack in Peshawar. It is an attempt by foreign secret agencies who are doing it to malign us. We do not target innocent people. Our targets are very clear, we attack security forces, government and people who are siding with it."[14] In Pakistan, references made to 'foreign agencies' are well-circulated conspiracy theories and rumours that point to alleged CIA activities in Pakistan and the perception that covert American agents are carrying out an orchestrated campaign of terrorism in the country to destabilise it.