Published on 12:01 AM, February 12, 2014

Grenade attack at Pak cinema kills 11

Grenade attack at Pak cinema kills 11

Pak-Taliban peace talks resume

A triple grenade attack on a cinema showing pornography in northwest Pakistan killed 11 people yesterday as government and Taliban negotiators met for a second round of peace talks.
It was the second such attack within two weeks on a cinema in the city of Peshawar, which has been on the front line of Pakistan's homegrown Islamist insurgency.
The attack came as negotiators representing the Pakistani government and Taliban militants met for a second time as part of efforts to end the bloody seven-year insurgency.
After the meeting in Islamabad the chief negotiator for the Taliban, hardline cleric Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, said the two sides had proposed a ceasefire "to make the atmosphere for talks more conducive".
In Peshawar, city police chief Mohammad Ijaz Ahmed said three grenades were used in the attack and up to 80 people were in the Shama cinema at the time.
The cinema is known for showing explicit erotic movies as well as regular films.
Another senior police officer, Faisal Mukhtar, told AFP that 11 people were killed and 17 wounded.
Scraps of human flesh, blood-soaked shoes, caps and condoms littered the floor of the hall after the blasts, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
The attack bears striking similarities to one on the city's Picture House cinema on February 2, when two grenades were thrown into the auditorium. Four people were killed and 31 injured.