PESHAWAR, Pakistan
At least eight people have been killed and 22 injured in a series of blasts in a cinema in northwestern Pakistan, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Shahidullah Shahid, spokesperson for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said they did not carry out the attack in Peshawar, near Pakistan's Afghan border.
Police said eight people were killed, though local media said hospitals put the figure at 11.
“Initial investigations show that two to four motor bikers hurled three China-made hand grenades at the cinema hall where 80 to 100 people were watching the movie,” said Peshawar police chief Ejaz Khan.
He added that militants had been threatening the owners to close the cinema down permanently.
Khan said the first hand grenade hit the rear portion of the cinema hall, while two landed in the middle of the audience.
Dr Arshad Javed at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital said that an emergency had been imposed in the hospital and they are appealing for blood donations for seriously injured people.
“Most of the injured have received sharp injuries as many of them seemed to be in critical condition,” said Javed.
Adil Khan, an eyewitness, told reporters that three blasts occurred within a minute, creating panic in the audience.
“I was sitting near an exit door. All of a sudden, a huge blast occurred in the rear portion that caused a chaos in the hall as everybody ran towards exits even climbing over seats,” he said.
He said as soon as he managed to escape, he heard two more blasts, one after the other, in the hall.
This is the second attack on cinemas in Peshawar within the last three weeks. Five people were killed in a similar attack on a cinema in Peshawar on January 4 .
The "Shama Cinema" is owned by a well-known Peshawar political family, the Bilours, who have been targeted by TTP militants for the last seven years. Bahsir Bilour is a provincial minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhaw province. The head of the Bilour family was killed in a suicide attack by TTP in 2011.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but Shahid said the TTP condemned Tuesday's attack. The group recently agreed to a ceasefire with Pakistan's government.
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