Peshawar Bomb Kills At Least 16 on Bus for Pakistani Government Officials

Local Editor

At least 16 people had been killed and dozens wounded when a bomb ripped through a bus carrying Pakistan government workers through one of the main commercial markets of Peshawar.

Police said explosives hidden inside a toolbox in the vehicle had apparently been detonated remotely. The privately hired bus brings government employees each day from the neighboring city of Mardan to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Television pictures showed a badly mangled bus with debris scattered by the explosion. Although windows of nearby buildings were smashed, no bystanders were reported hurt. Police Superintendent Kashif Zulfiqar said the fact the strike was in the early morning ensured casualties were lower than they might have been.

"About 50 government employees were present inside the bus that was hired to pick them up and carry them to their office in Peshawar," Zulfiqar said.
Of the 30 people injured, eight were in critical condition, a rescue official said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Peshawar and the surrounding tribal areas bordering Afghanistan have numerous militant extremist groups and had taken the brunt of much of the terrorism that had plagued the country in the last decade.

The overall number of terror attacks had fallen sharply in the last two years following a concerted military push against the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgent outfits. But sporadic strikes continue, including a suicide bombing of a courthouse last week that killed 18 and injured 31 in the town of Shabqadar.

Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, said the country remained determined to fight such groups. "These cowardly attacks cannot shatter our unflinching resolve against terrorism," he said.

It was the third such attack on a bus carrying commuters into the city. Nineteen people were killed and 42 injured in 2013 when a suicide bomber boarded a bus taking government workers back to their homes. The year before, 19 were killed in a bus attack in the same area of Peshawar.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team