The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan on Tuesday said that a total of 24 people died and 66 others suffered injuries in the deadly twin blasts in Rawalpindi near the capital.

Eye witnesses of one of the deadly twin blasts in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, some 15 kilometers south of the capital Islamabad, said that a bus was carrying some employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and there were 35 to 40 people in the bus when the blast happened at 7:15 AM (02:15 GMT).

Witnesses at the scene said an explosive device was attached to the bus as the roof and upper part of the bus were completely blown out.

There was no official confirmation about the witnesses' assertions.

It was reported earlier that a motorcyclist hit the bus at Qasim Market but the police did not find any motorcycle at the site of the blast.

Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said all those killed in the bus were civilians and not army personnel.

The ISPR said the bus belonged to the Ministry of Defense but did not mention any of its department.

Another blast happened in a car at R.A Bazaar in the military area in Rawalpindi about less than 15 minutes after the first blast. The R.A bazaar is about one-and-half kilometers from the site of the first blast.

Pakistani security officials examine a damaged bus at the site of bomb blast in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the government had recently warned of terrorist attacks after the army stormed the Lal Masjid, or red mosque in Islamabad, in July and local militants in North Waziristan tribal area scrapped a peace deal with the government.

The security was stepped up in Islamabad and major cities across Pakistan and the government's ministers described the blasts as terrorist acts to target innocent people.

Security men were deployed at airports, railways, bus stations and in other sensitive areas, according to officials.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz condemned the blasts and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families, according to local TV channels reports.

They directed the concerned authorities to immediately hold investigation to determine as to who were behind the blasts.

The government had recently warned that suicide bombers have entered the capital Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi and other major cities for terrorist attacks.

(Xinhua News Aency September 4, 2007)