- Title: PAKISTAN-BLAST/REFUGEE CAMP At least seven killed in Pakistani refugee camp blast
- Date: 28th September 2014
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) UNIDENTIFIED DISPLACED MAN SAYING: "We saw several children among the dead. Two or three persons were alive, but by the time we brought them to hospital, they had died. We demand that our region should be opened to us as soon as possible, so that we can take our dead and injured home."
- Embargoed: 13th October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6RCMZKN76IE1QTL3HPYK19XOX
- Story Text: An explosion in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northwest Pakistan killed at least seven people and injured several others on Sunday (September 28), local media reported.
The explosion occurred inside a camp in the town of Hangu for people displaced from the tribal region where a military operation against Taliban militants is underway.
District Police Officer (DPO) Anwar Saeed Kundi told reporters the explosion was caused by a remote- controlled improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorcycle.
Those killed in the blast included at least two children.
"I have no idea what exactly happened. But children have been killed in it, as well as some other people," a tribesman told reporters.
Neighbours rallied around a distraught man whose teenaged son was killed in blast.
"It was around 4 o'clock. When I arrived, they were putting him in the vehicle. He was around 14 years old; he was born in 2000," the man said, crying and beating his chest.
Over 1000 families displaced from the tribal region have been living in the camp.
One man demanded that they be allowed to return home.
"We saw several children among the dead. Two or three persons were alive, but by the time we brought them to hospital, they had died. We demand that our region should be opened to us as soon as possible, so that we can take our dead and injured home," the unidentified man said.
Hangu borders the northwestern tribal region of Orakzai, one of Pakistan's seven lawless districts in the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the Afghan border.
Considered to be the hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants, Hangu has on the frontline of a seven-year-long Taliban insurgency.
It has been racked by sectarian violence in recent years.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None