SAID ALAM KHAN / DNA
PESHAWAR: At least seven people, including three school children, sustained injuries, two of them serious, in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on Warsak Road here on Tuesday morning.
According to police, the explosive was planted alongside the road near a private bank and a school. The explosives blasted with a big bang as glasses of nearby buildings shattered by the explosion.
Rescue teams and security personnel reached the spot within minutes and moved the injured to Lady Reading Hospital. The injured children are between seven and 10 years of age, the hospital sources said adding the condition of a nine-year-old child is serious.
The injured have been identified as Ahmed Zia, Ehsanullah, Javed Khan, Zahirullah, Saad Ahmed, Shakirullah and Yusuf Khan. The staff of the nearby bank remained unhurt.
Talking to media persons, SP Arshad Khan said that the blast took place at around 9:10 am saying four-kilogram explosives were used in the blast.
According to Bilal Ahmad Faizi, the spokesman for emergency rescue services, an IED went off on Warsak Road in the morning. Police officials said that there was no indication that school children were the target of the attack.
According to the CCTV video, the explosion took place at 9:11 AM. The explosive material was installed in the divider in the middle of the road.
Traffic was as per routine at the time of the blast. The blast caused severe damage to nearby buildings. In the video, a police mobile can be seen passing by a few seconds before the explosion.
Peshawar has been witnessing such acts of terrorism since long. As many as 149 people including 132 schoolchildren were killed when terrorists attacked Army Public School on December 16, 2014 in Peshawar.