8 injured in Peshawar ‘suicide’ blast

PESHAWAR: At least eight people sustained injuries in a powerful blast targeting a convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area on Tuesday, ARY News reported, quoting police.

Talking to journalists near the site of the blast, Cantt Superintendent of Police (SP) Waqas Rafi confirmed the suicide blast saying that it was an attack on an FC convoy that was moving through Hayatabad’s phase 6.

The target of the terrorists were officials of the security forces, the police officer added. “We are looking into the matter and collecting further details,” he said, vowing that the culprits involved in the incident will be exposed.

Upon receiving the information, rescue teams and law enforcement agencies reached the spot and cordoned off the area. The injured people of the blast were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

Meanwhile, a bomb disposal squad was collecting evidence from the scene to ascertain the nature of the incident. However, no one has taken responsibility for the suicide blast yet.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

A report released this month by think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the terror activities in the country have soared by 79 percent during the first half of 2023, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.

The report voiced alarm, stating that at least 271 militant attacks took place during the last six months, resulting in the loss of 389 lives and injuring 656 individuals.

In a press conference in June, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the security forces conducted 13,619 intelligence operations this year in which 1,172 terrorists were killed or arrested.