20 killed in Pak suicide attacks

Police fear that the toll may rise higher as many people remained buried under the debris. The Peshawar blast also damaged nearby buildings and destroyed 30 cars parked in the area.

TV news channels beamed footage of bleeding victims being taken away from the site of the blast. Officials said two suspects were arrested soon after the explosion.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility and threatened to unleash bigger attacks on government targets to avenge the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone attack.

The groups spokesman Qari Hussain Mehsud claimed the responsibility for the bombing in Bannu in telephone calls to the media in Peshawar. He said the government had been taking advantage of the Talibans silence and the militants would carry out more suicide bombings and powerful attacks in the coming days.