At least 21 people were killed and more than 60 others injured when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up near the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office on Nisatta Road in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday.
The attack was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter group Jamaatul Ahrar, which was also behind last year’s deadly blast at Wagah Border.
However, TTP central spokesman Mohammad Khorasani in a statement distanced his group from the Mardan attack, saying “we have nothing to do with blasts at public places”.
The blast took place at a time when the office was crowded with people lining up to make applications for Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC).
‘Suicide attack’:
Deputy Inspector General Mardan Division Saeed Wazir told Pakistan Today that the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The DIG said that a security guard posted at the office stopped the bomber at the gate, after which he detonated his suicide vest. The suicide attacker was on a motorbike and rammed it into the gate after being denied entry, he said.
Earlier reports had suggested that the explosives may have been planted on a motorcycle parked near the NADRA office.
Officials of the Bomb Disposal Unit said around 8 to 10 kg of explosive material was used in the attack.
According to initial reports, the powerful blast took place near the gate of the office and damaged doors and windows in the building. More than 60 people are said to be injured, with some in serious condition.