5 dead in Peshawar suicide car bombing

ISLAMABAD (PAN‘s northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said on Wednesday.

The target of the bombing, claimed by the Taliban, was a building that housed the criminal investigation department, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ijaz Khan told Pajhwok Afghan News.

“It was a massive blast which razed the three-storey building located in the high-security cantonment area, close to the US consulate,” the police officer said, adding rescuers were searching the rubble for bodies and survivors.

Giving a witness account, resident Khalid said: “The bomber crashed his explosives-laden into the police station on the University Road. More than 30 injured people were taken to the hospital.”

Four bodies and more than 20 injured policemen were brought to the Lady Reading Hospital, said a doctor on duty, Junaid Zaman. Some of the wounded people are said to be in critical condition.

The explosion that was heard across the city shattered windowpanes in nearby buildings, he said. Security forces cordoned off the area soon after the incident, Khalid added.

Meanwhile, the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for latest the latest assault. The group has vowed to avenge the May 2 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a US forces’ operation in Abbottabad.

Bashir Bilour, senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister, told reporters at the scene that 300 kilograms of explosives was used in the attack. The engine of the bomber’s car landed 350 feet away and his body was blown to bits, he said.

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