Security agencies have launched a comprehensive probe into a suicide attack near a mosque in Peshawar, which killed at least 16 people and injured around 60 Saturday night, police said. Among the dead people are six police officials including Peshawar Police Chief Malik Saad. Most of the injured people, who were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital and two other hospitals of Peshawar, were police officials who had been deployed in the area for a procession. Doctors said that 15 of the injured were in critical conditions. They feared that the death toll might go up. Police official Zaibullah said the unidentified bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body when police stopped him from entering the procession, which was to be taken out from Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in the Dilgaran area of Qissa Khawani Bazaar. NWFP law minister Malik Azam branded the attack an act of terrorism, and said there was no evidence to suggest that the incident was part of sectarian violence. NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani condemned the blast.
