PESHAWAR: A bomb ripped through a passenger vehicle parked at a bus terminal near the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday, killing six people and wounding 11 others, police said.
The bomb was planted at the terminal near a market in Matani, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Peshawar, which lies near Pakistan’s lawless tribal region on the Afghan border, senior police officer Kalam Khan said.
“We have reports that six people were killed and 11 wounded,” khan told AFP. He said rescue teams had been sent to the area.
Peshawar police chief Mohammad Ijaz said a remote controlled device was used in the bombing.
“It appears to be a remote controlled bomb placed in a passenger vehicle waiting to leave for a rural area,” he said, adding that three other vehicles were also damaged.
He quoted witnesses as saying a man boarded the vehicle and left after leaving a package inside, telling people that he would be back soon.
Shortly afterwards a huge blast ripped through the vehicle. The casualties were mostly among the passengers, he added.
The dead included three women and one child, he said, adding that the wounded also included two women.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan’s Taliban have carried out several bloody attacks to avenge the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US commandos north of Islamabad on May 2.
Ijaz said five kilogrammes (11 pounds) of explosives were used in Sunday’s bombing.
Insurgents have in the past targeted members of anti-militant tribal militia known as lashkar.
But Ijaz said no tribal elder was there at the time of blast and the identity of the target was not immediately known.
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