Another child dead in Peshawar school blast

Death toll rises to two as critically wounded child succumbs to injuries.

PESHAWAR: The death toll from the Wednesday bomb attack outside a school in Peshawar rose to two, after a critically wounded student succumbed to his injuries on Thursday.

Medics at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) told The Express Tribune that six-year-old Shah Zeb, of the five critically wounded students, passed away. They said that at least 13 out of the 18 people injured have been discharged from the hospital, while four are still being treated.

The deceased student Shah Zeb was in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

Wednesday’s blast came outside the Shah Faisal Model School, when explosives placed in a horse cart blasted.

Police sources said that investigators are still clueless about who carried out the attack in an area where no such incident had previously occurred. They said that they are still interrogating the cart owner, Israr.

Three recent blasts in the city show a changing pattern of attacks. In the past, militants used to target school at night, while they are now targeting school buses and schools during the daytime.

The first such attack on a school bus killed a student and injured others when an Improvised Explosive Device targeted a school bus in Bhanamari Police jurisdiction on December 13.

On January 12, two teachers were killed and seven others were injured when an IED targeted a school van in Shagai Hindkian village on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st,  2011.