- Terrorists target bus carrying civil secretariat employees, kill 19
- Women, children among the dead
- Dozens left injured
- IGP says police lack resources to search each and every transport vehicle
Peshawar city was subjected to yet another devastating bomb blast on Friday that killed 19 people and injured dozens of others.
The blast occurred in a bus carrying employees of the secretariat going home after work. A number of people, including civil employees and schoolchildren, were on board the bus when the blast occurred. The dead included two women.
According to a preliminary report, explosive material and ball bearings were used in the explosion that completely destroyed the bus.
“An IED was wrapped in a carton and weighed around 12 to 15 kilograms,” a bomb disposal unit official told reporters at the explosion site on Charsadda Road.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IG Police Nasir Khan Durrani said police did not have resources to body-search every passenger travelling in public or private transport.
Former provincial minister for information Mian Iftikhar Hussain asked people not to lose heart and play their role for the peace process. Hussain called upon the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to protect buses of government officials, mosques, Imambargahs and other places.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minster Sikander Khan Sherpao said the attack might be the handiwork of elements who wanted to sabotage the ongoing peace process. “These people do not want peace to return to the province,” he told reporters.
Several leaders, including Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan condemned the bombing in strong words.
Meanwhile, security officials arrested four suspects involved in Sunday’s church blast which killed over 84 people.