Four killed, 34 hurt in Nowshera shrine blast
By: Mushtaq Paracha
NOWSHERA: At least four persons were killed and 34 others sustained injuries, seven of them critical, when explosives packed in a shopping bag went off here at the entrance to the shrine of Kaka Sahib on the second day of Eidul Azha.
A large number of devotees, including women and children, were present at the shrine when the explosion took place at around 1:25PM, some five feet away from the main entrance to the shrine, which created a two feet deep crater in the ground. Women and children were also among the injured.
According to the bomb disposal unit, five kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.The blast was heard far and wide and caused panic among the locals and the devotees who were present at the shrine.
It was learnt that 12 suspects were arrested during a search operation after the explosion.The local people and the devotees took part in the rescue activities and shifted the injured to the local Combined Military Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital.
Seven persons, who had suffered critical injuries, were referred to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. Sources said that two suffered critical injuries were referred to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. Sources said that two persons died on the spot while two succumbed to injuries while being shifted to hospitals.
The dead included Khalid Khan, Taj Wali, Ismail and Fazal Qadar. Some of the injured were identified as Jawad, Nabi, Gul Rehman, Afzal, Abuzar, Sartaj, Abbas, Mumtaz, Owais, Jehangir, Tufail Sanaullah, Farhad, Bilal, Asad, Kamran, Sohail Jamal, Mir Daraz Gul, Wajidullah, Ahmad Sher and Riffat.
Fifteen injured were still under treatment while others have been discharged.No group claimed responsibility for the bombing.The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is often blamed for such incidents, condemned the blast and disowned its involvement.
The TTP spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan called The News from an undisclosed location and termed it the handiwork of the Blackwater.“Foreign intelligence agencies carry out such type of terrorist acts to defame the Taliban and Mujahideen. We cannot even think of targeting innocent people in mosques, shrines and public places,” the TTP spokesman said.
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