Peshawar grenade attack kills one, wounds dozens

A grenade attack kills one child, wounds 28 people in a Muharram procession on the eve of Ashura in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR: A grenade attack killed one child and wounded 28 people, including women and children, at a Muharram procession Thursday on the eve of Ashura in Peshawar, reported Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous.

"Twenty-five injured were brought to our hospital. There are women and children among them. One child is in a serious condition," said Abdul Hamid Afridi, head of the city's Lady Reading Hospital.

According to Express 24/7 correspondent Omar Farooq, three of the injured, including one child, were in critical conditions when they were brought into Lady Reading Hospital.

"It was a grenade attack," Peshawar administration chief Mohammad Siraj told AFP, adding that police had failed to arrest the culprit.

Iftikhar Firdous reported that according to eye witness accounts, the grenade was thrown from inside one of the houses. However, the the area where the procession was passing through had been for the past week and only those authorised were able to enter the vicinity.

This was one of the procession that was meant to join with the main procession of the city at Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

After the incident took place, the police immediately took steps to keep the crowd from turning violent in order to start a search operation immediately.

Last year the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 43 people in a procession in Karachi on Ashura, in one of the deadliest single sectarian-linked attacks.

End of live updates

5:55pm

Iftikhar Firdous reports that the access to this area had been blocked a week back and only those who had ID cards for the area were allowed here.

According to eye witnesses the grenade was hurled from one of the houses in the region.

Sixteen people were injured who have been taken to the hospital.

5:52pm

According to Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous, the official authorities are saying that the explosion took place as a result of a grenade attack. It has not been determined where the grenade was hurled from as yet.

The police has cordoned off the hospital where the injured are being taken.

This was one of the processions that was supposed to join the main procession at the Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

The police is trying to calm the crowd in the procession so the situation does not turn violent and so they can start a search operation immediately.

5:47 pm

Omar Farooq, reporting for Express 24/7, says three of the injured, including a child, are are in critical condition.

5:44pm

Initial reports indicate that 15 people including women and children have been injured in the explosion.

According to Express News correspondent Jehangir Shehzad, the injured have been shifted to Lady Reading Hospital.