Blasts Wound 35, Kill 1 In Pakistan

A series of blasts went off Monday in Karachi, Pakistan, killing one person and wounding at least 35, including children, the Pakistan government said.

Police reported five blasts at various areas throughout the city -- at least one of them near a police station. Karachi police told CNN a motorbike, a bicycle and a truck were involved in three of the bombs.

Pakistan's ARY One World television reported that seven blasts in less than three hours killed two people and wounded at least 50, including 15 children.

Nobody claimed responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the explosions.

The Associated Press reported the blasts happened in residential and commercial areas.

The state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), on its Web site, reported a senior police officer saying the blasts "were of low intensity and their objective seems to be to create panic."

APP said one blast was in a junk market; another near a gas pump; one was in a light truck; another was near a school; and one was near a roundabout.

The one person killed was in Qasba colony, Pakistan police said.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani issued statements condemning blasts.

Shazia Marri, a member of parliament from Gilani's Pakistan People's Party told ARY that while Gilani was on a visit to Malaysia, he sent a message appealing to Pakistanis to "remain peaceful and united."

Gilani wants an investigation to ensure there was no security lapse, Marri said, "because if there has been a security lapse, and somehow if these attacks occurred because of that lapse, then those responsible for the lapse must be held accountable as well."

The explosions come a day after a suicide bomb attack at a rally in the capital, Islamabad, killed 17 people.

The suicide bomber detonated near a police station at the outermost security perimeter of a protection cordon set up by the government for Sunday's rally, according to Islamabad police Inspector General Asghar Gardezi.

Pakistan has grappled for years with explosions targeting government officials, police and civilians.

In October, a suicide bomber targeted former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi, upon her return to the country after years in exile. She was killed in another attack in Rawalpindi in December.

In recent months, other parts of the country, including Lahore and Islamabad, have seen numerous attacks, but Karachi has been in a relative period of calm.

Last weekend, the Pakistani military launched an operation near Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province -- its biggest push against extremists in the tribal region since a civilian government took power in March.

Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials say many members of al Qaeda live in lawless tribal regions of Pakistan.