Islamabad, Feb 2 (IANS) At least 11 people, including three children and two women, were killed and 32 injured Wednesday in a massive explosion in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.
The deafening blast took place in Budha Bair area in the outskirts of this city.
‘The bomb was planted in a vehicle that was destroyed completely,’ a police official said.
‘Several vehicles and nearby shops were damaged in the blast,’ Siraj Ahmad, a senior official, was quoted as saying.
At least 32 people have been injured in the blast.
Liaqat Ali, a senior police official, said Wednesday: ‘Police and bomb disposal squad have sealed the area and started collecting forensic evidence.’
‘The nearby police station seemed to be the target of the blast, but the terrorists could not penetrate because of tight security cordon around the building,’ he said, adding that ‘the attack was in retaliation of crackdown against the militants in tribal areas’.
The attack took place barely two days after four people, including a senior police official, were killed in a suicide bombing in this city. The Jan 31 bombing was fourth terror act in Peshawar during the first month of 2011.
Bashir Bilour, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister, visited the blast site and condemned Wednesday’s terror attack.
‘Nobody seems to be bothered about the situation in our province where terrorism in rampant and our people are dying on a daily basis,’ he said and urged the federal government to ‘look at the situation and take measures on priority basis’.
Militants also attacked a checkpost of the security forces at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing at least three personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC). Four troopers were injured, Dawn stated.
‘The security forces returned the fire and 15 militants are reported to have been killed in retaliation,’ the media report said.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has witnessed terror attacks ever since the security forces launched a crackdown to flush out Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants from the tribal areas.
