PESHAWAR - Six people, including two women, sustained injuries in a car bomb blast at a busy Kala Bari Market in Saddar area of Peshawar on Saturday.
It was about 8:45am when a white car parked in front of a school at Kala Bari locality exploded with a big bang, leaving six people, including two women, injured. Laden with explosives, the sound of blast was heard even in far-off areas. As it was off-day, thus human casualties luckily remained small.
The injured were rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where their condition is stated to be stable. Besides this, several shops and houses were also damaged due to the explosion.
The injured were identified as Mukhtar Bibi wife of Din Mohammad, resident of Saddar, Rubi wife of Frances of Rehman Town, Mohammad Farooq son of Din Mohammad, Rehmat Gul son of Behram Khan, Saddar Bazaar, Umair son of Parvez, resident of Asia Gate and Ibrahim son of Hadi Gul of Nothia. The condition of one injured stated to be critical.
Soon after the blast, personnel of law enforcement agencies rushed to the site, cordoned off the area and collected evidences from the scene. Bomb Disposal Unit AIG Shafqat Malik said that explosives fitted in the car and connected with cylinder used in the blast.
Talking to reporters, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Qazi Jamil-ur-Rehman said that from 8-to-10 kilograms explosives were used in the explosion. “It was an IED explosion and the explosive material was fitted inside the car,” he said, adding that all six injured including two women were in a stable condition. He added that the closed-circuit television cameras in the area will tell where the car came from.
In a CCTV video viral on social media after the blast, it is visible that a man parks a car in front of the school at 8:40am, leaving the site after wrapping himself in a shawl (Chaddar) covering his face and after about five minutes a blast occurred.
Police claimed to have arrested the owner of the car bearing registration number GAH-136 from Khyber tribal district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Shaukat Yousafzai, while condemning the Kali Bari blast, said it aimed at creating fear among people. The blast was a soft target and they were not taking the incident lightly, he added.
The damages would have been more had it been exploded during rush hour, said the KP information minister.
The incident is under investigation while security has been tightened further, Yousafzai said, adding that Kala Bari had been peaceful in the past.
ANP condemns bomb blast
Awami National Party (ANP) General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Provincial President Ameer Haider Khan Hoti Saturday strongly condemned car bomb blast that left six people injured including two women in Kala Bari in Peshawar.
Describing it as a barbaric act of terrorism, the ANP leaders said that elements involved in such activities were the enemies of humanity and wanted to sabotage peace in the country.
They said issuing statements of condemnation would not serve the purpose, rather practical measures needed to be taken by implementing the National Action Plan in its true spirit to eliminate menace of terrorism once and for all.
They said such shameful acts could not deter our firm resolve against terrorism and called upon the authorities to take decisive action against those inhumane elements by breaking up their networks and bringing the perpetrators of the blast to justice.
They prayed to Almighty Allah for early recovery of the injured and urged the government to provide best medical treatment to them.