Peshawar (AsiaNews) – At least 24 people, including two women, were killed and tens more were injured in a blast that devastated a hotel in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar on the border with Afghanistan, local police say. The death toll is expected to rise because many of the wounded are in critical conditions. Pakistan’s Catholic Church immediately condemned the attack and firmly called on the government to “re-establish law and order” in the country.

The blast struck the Marhaba Hotel, which is located on crowded Naz Cinema Road near the centuries-old Mahabat Mosque.

Local sources say that the hotel staff and clients were largely Afghans. Early, unconfirmed reports suggest that it might have been a suicide attack

According to Dr Shahid Masood, a well-known analyst for a Pakistani private TV station, the attack may be in reaction to the death of mullah Dadullah, a Taliban leader who was killed on Saturday in a joint operation by NATO and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.

“We strongly condemn the killing of innocent people” said Archbishop Lawrence J. Saldanha, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan.

“It is a sign of greater anarchy and intolerance because of declining law and order. As a result of this some people are taking advantage of the situation,” he added.

From the government, he wants “impartial investigations into extremism,” offering his “prayers for tolerance in Pakistan so that peaceful solutions can be found to conflicts that may lead to a just society.”

With help from ordinary people, rescue teams have moved the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, which has been placed on alert.

Provincial and federal governments had already issued a security alert for Peshawar as well as other major cities in the country.

The provincial government also announced a compensation package worth 100,000 rupees for those who died and 50,000 for the injured.