A dozen dead in Peshawar car bombing

ISLAMABAD (PAN): A dozen people were killed and at least 25 others wounded when an explosives-laden car went off at a bus stand on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar on Thursday, an official said.

The bombing took place in the Wakho Pul area on the Peshawar-Kohat road at around 10am, government official Siraj Ahmad told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Witness Zulfikar Shah said the explosives-packed car had been parked on the roadside. He claimed seeing more than 30 dead and wounded people at the scene.

A bomb disposal squad official, Shahid Jamal, told reporters up to 50 kilograms of explosives had been used in the attack.

Police said two suspects had been arrested in connection with the explosion.

Hospital sources confirmed receiving 15 dead bodies, fearing that the toll could increase as some of the injured were in critical condition.

A doctor at the Lady Reading Hospital, Shamsul Islam, said five dead bodies and 22 injured people had been brought from the site. The injured included women and children and four of them were serious, he said. An emergency was declared at the hospital.

Local journalist Azmat Gul said it was a powerful explosion that smashed windowpanes of nearby buildings and shops. At least 10 private cars were completely destroyed, he added.

With the target still unclear, officials said most of the victims were civilians, waiting to board passenger coaches. There was no immediate claim of responsibility of the car attack that came six days after a suicide bomber killed 31 people in Parachinar town.

ma/mud

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