PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two bombs, hours apart, exploded here Monday, killing 23 people and underscoring the reach of militants despite successive military offensives close to the Afghan border.
A suicide bomber was behind the deadliest blast, which occurred just before dusk in a crowded market area.
Police said the target was apparently officers watching over a rally by members of a political party against power cuts in the city. Police officers and protesters were among the dead and the more than 30 injured, said police chief Liaqat Ali Khan.
The rally was held by the Jamat-e-Islami party, a group sympathetic to many of the goals of the Taliban.
Police and two government officials blamed the Taliban for the attack. But Jamat-e-Islami spokesman Ameer-ul-Azeem instead alleged that CIA or Indian intelligence was behind it — the conspiracy theory of choice for right-wing Islamic groups in Pakistan.
“These attacks are a conspiracy to weaken Pakistan,” he said. “It is part of the game that international players are playing.”
Earlier, a bomb exploded outside a school run by a police welfare foundation, killing a young boy and wounding 10 people. The school raises money to help families of police officers. The victim was a boy between 5 and 7. Five of the wounded were children.
Taliban and al-Qaeda militants based in the Afghan border region — who are fighting Pakistani police and the army — have carried out hundreds of attacks over the last three years. They have frequently targeted security forces, government officials and their supporters or family members in mosques, schools and markets.
