PESHAWAR: A suicide blast rocked the northwestern city of Peshawar where a paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle was targeted by militants, leaving eight people injured, two of whom were said to be in critical condition, confirmed police and rescue officials on Tuesday.
The northwestern Pakistani city, which is also the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been targeted by militant outfits in the past who killed a large number of people in suicide attacks and other acts of violence.
Earlier this year, about 100 worshippers lost their lives during a prayer congregation in a mosque situated at a police compound in the city after a militant detonated his suicide jacket.
“The suicide attack happened in Hayatabad Phase 6,” Superintendent Police (SP) Waqas Rafiq confirmed while speaking to Arab News. “The area has been cordoned off and evidence is being gathered.”
He added that security had been tightened and the culprits behind the attack would soon be arrested.
According to a statement issued by Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Haroon-ur-Rashid, the attackers were driving an Alto car which they rammed into an FC vehicle they had been chasing.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for Rescue 1122 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said: “Eight people were injured in the blast and were shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex.”
According to local media reports, two of the injured persons were in critical condition.
Police officials said they were investigating the incident and had launched a search operation in the area to identify the masterminds of the attack.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since last November when a conglomerate of armed groups, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), unilaterally called off its cease-fire with the government and resumed its violent activities in different parts of the country.
Officials in Islamabad have frequently maintained that TTP leadership is based in Afghanistan, asking the administration in Kabul not to allow militant outfits to target neighboring countries by using its soil.
