17 killed by bus blast in northwest Pakistan
Print Edition
AT least 17 people were killed and dozens were wounded yesterday when a bomb exploded inside a bus in Peshawar, the main city in Pakistan’s insurgency-racked northwest, officials said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, which happened as the bus carrying mainly government employees was passing through the shopping district of Saddar.
Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with groups such as the Pakistani Taliban routinely carrying out attacks as part of their struggle to overthrow the government.
“A total of 47 wounded were brought to hospital and many have been discharged after first aid. Five people among the 19 injured admitted are still critical,” said a spokesman for Peshawar’s main Lady Reading Hospital. Senior police official Kashif Zulfiqar confirmed the death toll at 17.
Bomb disposal officials said a 4 kilogram improvised explosive device had been planted near the bus’s gas cylinder and appeared to have been detonated remotely.
“The IED was fitted with ball bearings and was planted beneath the sixth row of seats from the back,” police official Abbas Majeed added.
Majeed told reporters at the scene the bus was carrying government employees from the northwestern town of Mardan to Peshawar.
“A huge blast occurred and I felt that the bus had jumped in the air. I could only see flames and smoke,” said Faqir Gul, 32, from Charsadda district.
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