At least seven people, including four policemen were killed and around 30 injured in two bomb attacks carried out hours apart in the Lahori Gate area of Peshawar on Thursday. In the first attack, a police van was targeted by an improvised explosive device (IED), while in the second attack a female suicide bomber blew herself up near a police checkpost.
According to details, a police van carrying personnel of the Frontier Reserve Police (PRF) from Gorghathri tehsil barracks to the Civil Secretariat and other government installations was attacked by militants at the Lahori Gate. Officials believe that the high-intensity IED was placed in a fruit-cart which was blown up when the police van passed by. As a result, the vehicle was destroyed, killing three passengers and injuring others.
A teenager passerby was seriously injured and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. A policeman and a civilian also succumbed to their injuries later. Police officials later confirmed that five people had been killed and 21 injured. The killed included four policemen and one child, while the injured included four civilians and 17 policemen. The IED attack also damaged around 10 shops and several houses in the area.
The officials said around eight to 10 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. Two hours later, a female suicide bomber first hurled a hand grenade at policemen at a checkpost and later blew herself up. As a result, a woman passing by was killed and around 11 others injured. Bomb Disposal Squad Inspector General Shafqat Malik confirmed to reporters that the second attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber.
One unexploded suicide jacket was also recovered from the site which was defused by the BDS personnel. Separately, at least three women and two children were killed after explosives stored in a house went off in Tirah valley’s Mustak village in Khyber Agency. “Three women and two children were killed in the blast caused by explosives stored in a house and three others were wounded,” tribal administration official Ahmed Jan told AFP.
