Policemen stand guard near the caskets of their colleagues, who were killed in a bomb attack, during a funeral ceremony at the Police Line, or the police's main office, in Charsadda, on the outskirts of Peshawar January 22, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
The explosion took place near a police mobile in Sardheri Bazaar, Express News reported. There were eight police officers in the mobile at the time of the blast.
The police officers were on their way to provide security to a polio team.
The explosive material was planted in a bicycle which exploded when the police mobile passed by it, Hassan Khan, an official of the Sardehri police station told The Express Tribune.
Police said that up to five kilograms of explosives were used in the bomb, which was detonated remotely.
The deceased were identified as head constable, Khawaja Muhammad, driver Azam Khan, constables Kashif, Gul Shah, Wisal and Ikram and the civilian Adnan Khan.
Medical superintendent District Headquarters Hospital in Charsadda Muhammad Khan Afridi told The Express Tribune that six dead bodies of police officers and a body of a boy were brought to hospital.
Thirteen people injured in the blast were also brought to the hospital, he added further stating that two of the injured police officers, Faridullah and Haseen Jan were in critical condition and taken to Peshawar and three of the injured were discharged after medical treatment.
Some of the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Charsadda while others were taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
No one had claim responsibility of the attack till filling this report.
Bomb Disposal Unit Charsadda in-charge Kiramat Khan told The Express Tribune that a remote-controlled device was used in the blast along with ball bearings and iron bars.
Security forces have cordoned off the area and started a search operation.
The funeral ceremony of the victims of the blast was offered at the Police Line, or the police's main office, in Charsadda, on the outskirts of Peshawar.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak strongly condemned the attack and announced compensation for the victims.
He announced Rs 3 million would be given to families of each of the six police personnel, one lac each for the injured personnel, five lacs for the family of the student, and two lacs each for the civilians injured.
"Targeting the police force is nothing but aimed at making the public insecure which no government and nation could allow at any cost," he said.
Polio
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Militant groups see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage, and there are also long-running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.
On January 17, the World Health Organization warned that Peshawar was the world's "largest reservoir" of polio.
Previous incidents
Some eight servicemen were among 13 people killed in a suicide attack in a market adjacent to the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi on January 20. More than two dozen people were also injured in the attack.
On January 19, at least 26 security personnel were killed and 24 others injured in a bomb blast that ripped through a van in the Bannu cantonment area. The blast occurred just as Frontier Corps (FC) troops had stepped into the van ahead of their departure.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against various TTP leaders, including TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah and spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid. More than 16 members of the TTP are named in the FIR, which has been filed by the FC themselves.
COMMENTS (8)
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@Hafiz: Yes and to make sure that children don't adopt western values such as walking with their two feet and enjoying childhood we should also cut their leg tissues.
@Hafiz: Then don't accept the medicines you use when your unwell which are also Western, or use their computers, phones, cars, planes etc. Arnt these western creations to distract you from Islam..? Don't know how your literate with what comes out your mouth. People choose Islam where it suits them. I have a cousin who has polio and now cannot walk and only because you illiterate people in Pakistan, she will probably not get married ever (because of Pakistani society) and lives an unhappy life and can't do things other people can. May ALLAH S.W.T. protect her and the people like her who now suffer from your idiocy.
pakistan should ban polio. what a nonsense people myree!!! no need polio!!!! don't accept western culture.
@Zaida P: Sami ul Haq was very unhappy when it was reported that he with Imran Khan was opening polio drive in KPK. He wanted the media persons to hide and not mention his name.
Stay home and be safe. No need to risk your lives for this nation. Game is over.
Polio teams shd stop visiting homes. People shd come to them in hospitals, if they love their kids.
@Zaida P Why won’t the Mullahs speak out in support of Polio vaccines??
duh? Polio vaccination campaign is nothing but a conspiracy funded by the USA to make the pakistani babies infertile. Everybody in pakistan knows this. You must not be from pakistan.
Why won't the Mullahs speak out in support of Polio vaccines??