PESHAWAR: Seven people were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when a blast targeted the offices of a pro-government peace committee in Pakistan’s northwest, police said, as rescue teams attempted to reach those trapped under the rubble.
The blast took place in Wana, a city in South Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, and hit the offices of a government-backed peace committee on Monday afternoon, killing seven and injuring at least 16, South Waziristan police spokesperson Habib Islam told Arab News.
Such committees often comprise local tribal leaders who publicly oppose the Pakistani Taliban militants, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP.
“Details into the casualties are still coming because two offices of the peace committee commander Saifur Rehman collapsed due to the intensity of the blast,” Islam told Arab News. “A number of people are trapped under the rubble.”
He said it was as yet unclear if this was a suicide attack or the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device.
Tribal elder Almir Khan Wazir said two commanders of the peace committee, Rehman and Tehsil Wazir, were in critical condition.
“They were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in critical condition,” Wazir said.
The blast took place as Pakistan’s military said 71 militants had been killed in a number of armed operations in the nearby North Waziristan district in the last three days.
Pakistan blames the Taliban government in Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to TTP militants, threatening cross-border action unless Kabul withdraws its support for militant groups. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.
