Six killed in two Pakistan blasts
PAKISTAN: Six people including four police officers were killed and
14 people wounded in two bomb blasts in Pakistan’s northwest on Monday,
the first detonated by a teenage suicide bomber.
The suicide attack, which killed five people and left 11 injured, was
claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, saying it targeted the police in the
troubled city of Peshawar.
The police van was on a routine patrol on the outskirts of the city
when it came under attack, senior administration official Siraj Ahmed
told AFP.
“The bomber was a teenager, he came on foot and blew himself up near
the police van,” Ahmed said.
The attack killed three policemen — deputy superintendent Rashid
Khan, his security guard and driver — while two civilians also died in
the blast, officials said.
“We have received four bodies — three police officials and one
civilian,” the head of Peshawar’s main hospital Abdul Hameed Afridi told
AFP.
One more person later died of his injuries in the hospital, he said,
adding that another seven of the injured were in a serious condition in
hospital.
Umar Gul, a police officer at the scene, confirmed the suicide
attack. “We have recovered his head, the bomber was a young boy,” he
said.
A bomb disposal squad official said the bomber was carrying six to
seven kilograms (13-15 pounds) of explosives, which destroyed the police
van.
Another police official was killed and three officers wounded when a
roadside bomb went off a short time later near a police van in the
suburbs of Peshawar, police officer Ejaz Khan said.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the suicide
attack. “We have already announced that we will target police and
security forces,” TTP spokesman Azam Tariq said in a telephone call to
AFP from an undisclosed location. AFP
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