'Suicide bomber' targets judges van in Peshawar, driver killed

PESHAWAR: A suicide blast targeting a van in Peshawar killed at least one person and left four injured, confirmed SSP Operations Peshawar Sajid Khan.

He said judiciary staff members including a judge were aboard the bus that was targeted. He said ‘suicide attacker’ riding a motorbike hit the bus, triggering loud explosion.

According to sources, four judicial magistrates sustained injuries in the attack and they were rushed to a nearby hospital.

The injured judges were identified as Rabia Abbasi, Aamna Haider, Tehreema Sabahat and Asif Jadoon. Van driver Khurshid succumbed to his wounds.

 

Capital City Police Office Peshawar, Tahir Khan, in his terse media briefing, said the suicide bomber used at least 15 kilogram of explosives in the attack.

The blast occurred near office of Peshawar Development Authority.

 

The Bomb Disposal Squad, rescue teams and police contingent reached the crime site shortly after the explosion.

Peshawar was put on high alert for some days in view of looming terror threat.

On February 13, an explosion near the Punjab Assembly killed at least 16 people and wounded 83 others on Monday.

Five police officers were among the dead when an explosion rocked a protest organized by Pakistan’s chemists and pharmaceuticals manufacturers.

“It was a suicide attack. The bomber exploded himself when successful negotiations were underway between police officials and the protesters,” Punjab IG said.

A spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, had claimed responsibility.

The militant group also warned the Lahore attack was the start of a new campaign against government departments. “You are on our target across the country,” it added in a statement to Reuters.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar had also claimed responsibility for an Easter Day bombing in Lahore last year that killed more than 70 people in a public park.