Bomber kills 6; 2 Sikhs shot dead in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: A suicide bombing near a security forces vehicle killed three soldiers and three children in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan on Sunday, while gunmen shot dead two minority Sikhs in Peshawar, officials said.
A military statement said the suicide bomber triggered his explosives-laden vest near a vehicle on security patrol in a village near the town of Mir Ali in the tribal district of North Waziristan.
The atack killed two soldiers in the vehicle on the spot and wounded another. Three children playing alongside the road were also critically wounded. All of the wounded were rushed to a hospital in a helicopter but none survived, the statement said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the atack. The military said security forces and intelligence officials were combing the area searching for the bomber’s handlers.
The region has served as a safe haven for local and foreign militants for years. The military carried out a massive operation ater militants atacked an army-run school in Peshawar in 2014 that let over 150 dead, mostly school children.
Also on Sunday, police officer Ejaz Khan said gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire on two members of the minority Sikh community in a bazaar in the Peshawar suburb of Sarband.
Khan said Ranjit Singh, 38, and Kanwal Jeet Singh were shot multiple times as they were setting up their spices shop in the Bata Tal bazaar Sunday. The atackers fled the scene.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police were investigating but Khan said it appeared the two Sikhs were targeted because of their ethnicity.
Later during the day, the Peshawar-islamabad road in front of Qila Bala Hissar was blocked by the members of the Sikh community to register their protest against the killing of two Sikhs in Peshawar.
“Amidst the slogans of “Bole-so-nihal, the members of the Sikh community while holding placards in their hands Staging protests on the roads of Peshawar against the brutal killings of two #Sikhs near #Peshawar in #Pakistan,” Ravinder Singh Robin tweeted.
THIRD POLIO CASE: Meanwhile, Pakistani health authorities documented the third case of polio of the year in the country in the city of Miran Shah in North Waziristan. Dr Mohammad Shahzad, the coordinator and spokesperson for the country’s anti-polio program, said the deadly virus was detected in a 1-year-old boy. Last year, just one case was reported in the country.