Asfandyar Khan, a reporter for the newspaper
Akhbar-e-Khyber, died in a double bombing that took the lives of more than
three dozen people. Shafiullah Khan, a trainee reporter at the daily The News,
died six days later from extensive burns and shrapnel wounds suffered in the
attack. Seven other journalists were injured.
The first, small blast went off at a market, drawing a large
crowd that included journalists covering the story, according to news reports
and local journalists. A second, larger explosion, apparently a suicide bomb,
went off after the crowd had grown.
The attack took place near the city center, in an area where
military facilities are concentrated and where many major Pakistani media
organizations have their offices. No group immediately claimed responsibility
for the bombings, and it was not clear if journalists or military personnel
were the targets.