PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 21, 2009 (AFP) - A bomb exploded near the building of a non-government organisation offering treatment to the blind in northwest Peshawar city on Saturday, injuring one person, police said.
The bomb was planted behind the two-storey building housing the German-funded Comprehensive Health and Education Foundation in the city's University Town neighbourhood, senior police officer Imran Kishwar said.
"It damaged the outer wall and one office employee was wounded. His condition is stable," Kishwar told AFP.
The group's head, Daud Khan, said the early morning blast damaged some office equipment.
"We are engaged in providing treatment to the blind people in North West Frontier Province. Our teams visit different parts of the province and offer treatment to local people suffering from eye diseases," he told AFP. "We receive funds from Germany."
Peshawar has been in the grip of a wave of militant violence for the past several weeks and has been rocked by eight bombings in 12 days as the Pakistan army presses on with a major offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan.
The sprawling city of 2.5 million people lies on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where US officials say Al-Qaeda militants are plotting against the West.
Attacks in the northwest have soared as 30,000 Pakistani troops press into Taliban strongholds in the hostile terrain near the border with Afghanistan, where 100,000 NATO and US troops are fighting a deadly insurgency.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 11/21/2009 01:56:31
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