Pakistan bus bomb attack kills at least 17 govt employees

PESHAWAR: A bomb exploded on a bus carrying government employees in restive northwest Pakistan killing at least 17 people, officials said.

The incident happened in Peshawar yesterday, the main city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has been hit by numerous bomb and gun attacks blamed on Taliban insurgents in recent years.

“The bomb was planted inside the bus. At the moment, the death of 17 people have been confirmed,” said Zahirul Islam, deputy commissioner of Peshawar.

Nasir Durrani, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told reporters that the remote-controlled bomb was planted at the back of the bus, which was taking government staff home to the town of Charsadda after work.

Durrani confirmed that 17 people have been killed and 43 were wounded.

An eyewitness speaking on GEO news channel said the blast was so powerful that it threw victims’ bodies clear of the vehicle and onto the roadside.

Footage showed the back of the bus reduced to a tangle of twisted metal by the force of the explosion.

Nine bodies have been taken to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar while eight bodies have been taken to a government hospital in Charsadda.

The target was government employees, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, the commissioner of Peshawar, said. — AFP