PESHAWAR - A bomb in a pushcart killed at least two people and wounded five others at the main border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday.
The Torkham political administration official said the handcart loaded with passengers luggage crossed into Pakistan territory from Afghanistan, when it was detonated with big-bang. The bomb was apparently hidden in a pushcart used by travellers to ferry goods across the frontier.
A wounded and on duty Khasadar person, Naikzer said when he stopped the handcart for search, the owner of the loaded goods ran and crossed the border to Afghanistan and at the same time it was burst.
"The bomb killed one person on the spot and another died of his injuries while on his way to hospital," senior local administration official Daftar Khan told AFP, updating the earlier toll of one killed and six wounded. Khan said one of the five injured was in a serious condition and doctors were struggling to save his life. He added both of the dead were Afghan nationals, whose bodies were later handed over to Afghan authorities at the border crossing.
All windows panels of the surrounding building were smashed due to severe intensity of the blast, a shopkeeper Zulfiqar said.
Soon after the incident, the administration and forces officials rushed to the scene, cordoned off the whole area and suspended the border for all kind of movement.
Another senior local administration official, Tayyab Abdullah, also confirmed the incident and casualties.
Torkham lies in Khyber region, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants for over a decade.
The border crossing has been used extensively by Nato supply convoys transporting goods overland from Pakistan's main port Karachi to forces in Afghanistan.
The Pakistan army began a major campaign against Taliban and other militant strongholds in the North Waziristan tribal area in June last year and authorities have now vowed to intensify operations both in the border regions and across the country.