Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban

Security personnel examine the site of a blast in Peshawar district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on March 10, 2024. (AFP/File)
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Updated 14 November 2024
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Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban

  • Police investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs
  • Blast happened in Mir Ali where Pakistani Taliban often target security forces with suicide bombings 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A powerful explosion ripped through a house in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban on Thursday, killing at least two children and wounding some others, police said.

Police were still investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs, local police chief Irfan Khan said.

The blast happened in Mir Ali, a city in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan and where Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents often target security forces with suicide bombings and other violence.

Elsewhere in the province Thursday, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off an explosive device prematurely on a deserted road in Charsadda district, killing himself but harming no one else, police said.

Local police official Masood Khan said the intended target was unclear and bomb disposal experts and police were still investigating whether the man was wearing the explosives or they were attached to his motorcycle.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are separate from the Afghan Taliban but have been emboldened by the group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.


At least six killed in roof collapse in Pakistan’s northwest

Updated 12 sec ago
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At least six killed in roof collapse in Pakistan’s northwest

  • Five others trapped under the rubble were rescued and shifted to hospital, rescue official says
  • Roof collapses are a recurring hazard in Pakistan often due to poor construction, aging buildings

ISLAMABAD: At least six people, including women and children, were killed and five others injured after dilapidated roof of a house collapsed in Pakistan’s northwestern Charsadda district, a rescue official said on Sunday.

The roof collapse occurred in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda, trapping several people, who had come to attend a wedding, under the rubble, according to local media reports.

A Rescue 1122 spokesman said their teams immediately rushed to the site, rescued five people and retrieved bodies of the deceased.

“Rescue 1122 personnel removed the debris with utmost caution and evacuated the affected people, who were transferred to a nearby hospital,” the spokesman said.

Roof collapses are a recurring hazard across Pakistan. Many such incidents are linked to poor construction practices, aging buildings, and a lack of adherence to building codes.

Informal housing settlements and older urban neighborhoods are especially vulnerable as decades-old roofs often fail to withstand prolonged downpours or snowfall.

In a statement, Shafi Jan, adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister on information, expressed grief over the loss of human lives in the incident.

“The provincial government extends its sympathies and condolences to the families of the deceased,” he said.