National News

PESHAWAR, (APP): A powerful bomb, detonated by a time device,
ripped through a bus carrying mostly government employees on Sunheri Masjid Road in Peshawar cantonment on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and causing injuries to 54 others.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Cantonment Muhammad Kashif told reporters
that the bomb was planted in the rear portion of the bus.”Sixteen people were killed and 54 others were severely injured,” added the police officer.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Mubarak Zeb said the bus
left for Peshawar from Dargai, Malakand picking up the government employees on its route.
The bus, which was parked at a petrol pump during the night, leaves for
Peshawar after morning prayers. Levis personnel provide security to the bus in their area, the CCPO said.
The Bomb Disposal Unit personnel claimed that high-grade explosives,
weighing eight kilograms were used in the attack.
The dead identified as Arshad Ali, resident Dargai Malakand Agency,
Arshad Khan resident of Mardan, Ismail (Mardan), Muhammad Hamid (Tangi), Muhammad Inam (Mardan), Muhammad Riaz (Takhtbhai Mardan), Sattaruddin (Charsadda), Shafiq (Afghan), Shahid(Takhtbhai Mardan) and the names of the remaining could not be ascertained.
The Spokesman of Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar told APP that 53 victims
were brought to the hospital against whom 43 were injured and 10 dead. He said seven patients were admitted in LRH and four were shifted to CMH Peshawar.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Information Adviser Mushtaq Ghani soon after the
blast visited Lady Reading Hospital and inquired after the health of the injured and also issued directives to provide proper medical care to the wounded.
He said the employees were travelling in a privately-operated bus adding
it was the responsibility of the contractor to checks the bus when it left the station.
Speaker KP Assembly Asad Qaiser and Provincial Minister for Public
Health Engineering, Shah Farman visited LRH and inquired after the health of injured.
It merits to mention here that civil secretariat buses were also
targeted earlier in Peshawar in 2012 and 2013 that killed at least 38 people.
Meanwhile, the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Chief
Minister Pervez Khattak have strongly denounced the bomb blast in a bus carrying mostly government employees and termed it an act against humanity.
In their separate messages of condemnation, they said we equally share
the grief of the bereaved families and assured that perpetrators involved this inhuman act would be brought to the justice very soon.
The Governor said killing innocent people depicted fall of the moral of
anti-state elements and now on-the-run terrorists were choosing soft targets to fulfill their evil designs.
The Chief Minister said those involved in this heinous act did not
deserve to be called Muslims or even humans and their identity would soon be unfolded by the law enforcers.
He said the government stands along with the victims’ families in this
testing time and every possible support would be provided to them.
The Governor and CM prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed souls
in eternal peace and grant courage and fortitude to the bereaved families to bear the loss with patience.
They also prayed for early recovery of the blast victims and directed
the hospital authorities to provide best possible medical cover to the injured.