At least 14 governmental workers killed in blast in Pakistan

Peshawar, (IINA) - At least 14 people were killed and 53 others wounded on Wednesday in Pakistan when a bomb destroyed a bus carrying government employees to their workplace in the city of Peshawar, New York Times reported.
The bus was picking up passengers at a stop on Sunehri Masjid Road just after 8 a.m. when the explosion occurred, the police said. They said the attacker boarded the bus just long enough to place the bomb, apparently hidden within luggage.
“Someone got onto the bus, left the baggage and got off,” said Police Chief Mubarak Zeb Khan.
The police bomb disposal squad said the bomb weighed 11 to 13 pounds and was attached to a timer. Head of the squad Shafqat Malik said that many elements were similar to a September 2013 blast, also on a government bus, that killed 19 and wounded dozens.
Peshawar has long been a target for attacks by the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. A statement purportedly from the outlawed group Lashkar-i-Islam claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in revenge for death sentences passed down by a military court for 13 men convicted on terrorism charges.
The police said the bus was in routine service, bringing government employees from other districts to the provincial capital for work.
Rescue workers took the dead and wounded to nearby hospitals. Witnesses said the rescuers used cutters to remove windows and pull victims out of the bus.
A doctor at the Lady Reading Hospital, the city’s largest medical facility, said several of the wounded were in critical condition. “Some of them have been released after first aid, but others are under observation”, said Dr. Ghulam Subhani, the hospital’s deputy medical superintendent.
AG/IINA

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