Blast at Jalozai refugee camp kills 15

ISLAMABAD (PAN): At least 15 people were killed and several others wounded in a bomb attack at a refugee camp in Pakistan, on Thursday.

The explosion in Nowshera garrison town happened at the Jalozai camp where aid was being distributed to internally displaced people, the district coordination officer told reporters at the site.

Ghulam Mohammad Nabi put the toll at 15 civilians dead and 30 others wounded. The casualties, including women and children, were evacuated to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where an emergency had been declared and all nursing staff called in.

Mohammad Hussein, the Nowshera police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News the blast had resulted from explosives placed in a car. Four women and three children were among the injured, he said.

Rescuers and bomb disposal squad officials reached the site of the car blast, in which 30-35 kilograms of explosives were used. Several cars parked near the scene were damaged.

Fawad Khan, a police officer responsible for the camp’s security, said: “The bomb exploded in a car parked near the administration office where refugees had lined up to get ration.”

The sprawling camp that once hosted Afghan refugees now houses Pakistani tribes-people who have fled unrest in Khyber, Bajaur and Mohmand tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan.

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