29 killed, 35 wounded as Jamrud hit again

At least 29 people were killed and more than 35 others injured when a high-intensity bomb went off at the main market in Jamrud, Khyber Agency on Tuesday morning.
Two Khasadar Forces personnel, two children and women were among the dead, most of whom belonged to the Zakakhel clan of the Afridi tribe. Officials said an explosives-laden pickup truck parked in a petrol filling station at Main Bazaar had been remotely detonated. “According to initial information, it was a remote-controlled device planted in a passenger pickup van,” said Mutahir Zeb, a top official of the agency.
The resultant explosion was so massive that it was heard and felt as far away as University Town in Hayatabad and other localities of Peshawar adjacent to the border regions of Khyber Agency. Around 19 people lost their lives on the spot and another 10 succumbed to injuries at the hospital. Jamrud Assistant Political Agent Mohammad Jamil Khan told Pakistan Today that 35 wounded people were under treatment at various hospitals and doctors had declared several of them to be in serious condition. Over a dozen people with minor injuries had already been discharged after treatment. The blast damaged several vehicles and shops and completely gutted the filling station and a number of shops close to it. Soon after the explosion, high-ranking officials in the political administration of the agency rushed to the site to supervise rescue activities. The injured were admitted to Peshawar’s Hayatabad Medical Complex, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Lady Reading Hospital. There have been no claims of responsibility so far but local tribal elders and officials believed Zakakhel tribesmen were the target. The Afridis of the Zakakhel clan from Tirrah Valley have formed peace militias against militants associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Islam, headed by Mangal Bagh. The Zakakhel tribesmen also support the war on terror. Meanwhile, AFP reported that 35 people had been killed in the blast and more than 60 were wounded. Trails of blood could be seen around the site of the blast, which had left a large crater in the road, an AFP reporter said. The bombing was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since September 15, when a suicide bomber killed 46 people, targeting anti-Taliban militia at a funeral in the northwestern district of Lower Dir.