PAKISTAN: Nineteen people die when a bomb explodes on a bus on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar

Record ID: 357517

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Nineteen people die when a bomb explodes on a bus on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar
  • Date: 9th June 2012
  • Summary: PEOPLE CROWDING AROUND DESTROYED BUS SLIPPER ON THE ROAD BLOOD ON THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) LOCAL RESIDENT, NAUSHAD KHAN, SAYING: "It was prayer time and we were getting ready for (Friday) prayers. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion on the road in front of the mosque. It was a terrifying blast and the dust rose to the skies. When we arrived here, there were sev
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA8SC2YNR0ZBN51037TJAZRKRAA
  • Story Text: A bomb exploded in a bus on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday (June 8), killing 19 people and wounding several, police officials said.
    Police said the bus was travelling from Peshawar to the nearby town of Charsadda, and was carrying around 40 passengers, most of them government employees, home after work.
    Witnesses said the blast occurred as the bus drove past a mosque where people were getting ready for Friday prayers.
    "It was prayer time and we were getting ready for (Friday) prayers. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion on the road in front of the mosque. It was a terrifying blast and the dust rose to the skies. When we arrived here, there were several bodies lying the road. The bus was standing there (points to area). I think the bus driver must be alive because the bus has been driven up to there. There are dead bodies inside the bus," Naushad Khan, a local resident, told Reuters television.
    Several injured and at least 11 dead bodies were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
    Some of the injured were in a critical condition, doctors said.
    "I was sitting inside the bus. Suddenly there was a huge bang. I threw myself out. I do not know what happened after that until I found myself here. My eyes are filled with dust, and because of that I am very uncomfortable," said an injured young man, Mohammad Jalal.
    There have been numerous bombings in Peshawar, capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, since the Pakistani military stepped up operations against militant groups in 2007.
    Peshawar borders Pakistan's semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun regions along the Afghanistan border where Islamist militants have found refuge despite a series of military offensives over the past few years.
    The Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda and affiliated militant groups are entrenched in the tribal regions, and take advantage of the porous border to launch attacks against NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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