Twin blasts kill seven in Peshawar

Daily Times
At least seven persons were killed and 35 others wounded in twin blasts targeting Peshawar police on Thursday.

The dead included five policemen and the suicide bomber, who was a woman. The attacks occurred in the heart of old Peshawar city, officials said. In the first attack, a remote-controlled bomb, concealed in a handcart, went off when a police van carrying 20 policemen was passing through the Lahori Gate on Circular Road. The blast caused the death of four policemen on the spot while hours later a wounded cop died at hospital, city police chief Imtiaz Altaf told reporters.

AIG Bomb Disposal Squad Shafqat Malik said a female suicide bomber tried to target a police checkpost metres away from the site of the bomb blast. “She first lobbed a hand grenade and then tried to blow herself up in which she was half successful,” Shafqat told media after visiting the two sites. Police said the bomber appeared to be 25 years old and was wearing a suicide vest. A total of 42 people, mostly policemen, were injured in the two attacks, which took place within two hours of each other. The injured persons were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital. The suicide attack caused no loss of life as the bomber could not detonate the explosives fully, police said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the two attacks could be a reaction to Wednesday night operation in the suburbs of Peshawar in which a senior Taliban commander was reportedly wounded. SSP (Operations) Ijaz Khan said around eight kilogrammes of explosives were used in the first explosion.

The suicide bomber is believe to have been deployed to target senior police and government officials who were expected at the site of the first bomb explosion, Iftikhar said. Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, while saluting the police bravery, said that terrorists “planned” a major terrorist attack in Peshawar, which local police foiled. The failed suicide attack is the first since June 11 when twin bombings had killed 11 people, including two young journalists.

Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and Provincial President Afrasiab Khattak strongly condemned the blasts and expressed grief over the loss of innocent lives. ANP leaders termed the blasts acts of cowardice, saying that terrorists were frustrated and browbeaten by the unity of people against their nefarious designs. staff report/agencies