Blast outside Peshawar stadium kills two

ISLAMABAD: Two persons were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a stadium in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's restive NWFP, which borders Afghanistan.
    
The bomber detonated his explosives at the gate outside the stadium after security officials stopped him from entering the sports complex where a closing ceremony of the inter-provincial games was being held.
    
The blast, which killed two persons while wounding five others, was reportedly targeted on the VIPs attending the event in the stadium, including North West Frontier Province Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and other senior provincial ministers.
    
However, Ghani and the other ministers had left the venue a short while before the attack and the explosion occurred minutes after the event in the stadium had ended.
    
Several vehicles parked outside the stadium was damaged while the site was covered with blood and body parts lay scattered on the ground which caused panic among passer-bys.
    
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, a local Taliban commander had on Monday warned that militants would carry out attacks in Peshawar if the security forces did not halt operations against them in the adjoining Khyber tribal region.