Deadly explosions shake Quetta, Peshawar in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, March 14 (UPI) -- At least 20 people were killed Friday in bombings in the cities of Quetta and Peshawar in Pakistan, officials said.

The Quetta bombing occurred near a bus, killing 11 people, Dawn News reported. In Peshawar, nine people died in a suicide bombing aimed at a police convoy 12 miles from the city, Pakistan Today said.

An unnamed police official told Dawn News that the Quetta explosion was apparently aimed at a Frontier Corps vehicle. But he said most of the dead were believed to be civilians, including children and at least one woman.

The explosives were concealed inside a bicycle.

Bakht Mohammad told Pakistan Today he was a passenger in a rickshaw in Quetta.

"I heard a big bang and then something hit, wounding my leg, back and both arms," he said. "I was bleeding, and the driver started reciting verses from the Koran."

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, near the border with Afghanistan. Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan near the Khyber Pass has long been a crossroads and is the center of the tribal areas.