NEW DELHI: Two people were killed and one person was injured in a blast near Board Bazaar in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, early Sunday morning, as per officials cited by Dawn.
The bodies of the deceased and the injured have been taken to Khyber Teaching Hospital. The blast site has been cordoned off, and the Counter Terrorism Department and other law enforcement agencies are collecting evidence, according to Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police Kashif Aftab Abbasi.
“We have found an almost mutilated body and a damaged motorcycle here,” he said.
“The blast occurred during the transportation of four to five kilogrammes of explosives,” the SSP told Geo News. He elaborated that the explosives were being transported on a motorcycle.
“Two people involved in the transportation were killed while one was injured,” Abbasi said, adding that the identities of the suspects were being determined.
The recent blast in Pakistan has caught the attention of the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, who has requested a report from the provincial police chief.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the incident and urged that the injured be provided with the best medical treatment. Ayaz Sadiq, the National Assembly Speaker, has also expressed his condolences for the loss of innocent lives.
It is worth noting that Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorist activities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022, as reported by Dawn.
According to a security report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed a record high of 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries in 2023, resulting from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were the most affected regions, accounting for over 90% of the fatalities and 84% of the attacks.
(With ANI input)