‘Targeted attack’: Car-bomb leaves tribal elder, 10 others injured

No casualties reported, police retrieves parts of destroyed vehicle.

PESHAWAR:

A targeted car-bomb attack in Peshawar left 11 people, including a senior tribal elder, injured on Wednesday.

The attack took place at around 10 am in Karkhano Market, a hub for smuggled goods, situated close to the Jamrud Tehsil in Khyber Agency, the police said.

The attack was a result of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) parked along the way leading to tribal elder Malik Taj’s house, SP Cantonment Circle Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed told The Express Tribune. Taj survived the attack, walking away with some minor injuries.

The police managed to retrieve parts of the destroyed vehicle, along with the engine, from the blast site which suggested that an Alto had been used to carry out the attack, Saeed said, adding that two of the injured were in critical condition.

No casualties, however, were reported in the attack.

Regarding the motive of the attack, the official said it was too early to say something at this stage.

“The police are investigating the likelihood of militancy and family feud in this blast,” Saeed said.

Close to the blast site is also a police check post, Peshawar police spokesperson Nisar Ahmed Khan told The Express Tribune. At least seven vehicles were destroyed in the attack but there was no damage to the check post, he added. Whether the attack was targeted at Taj or the police check post, is still unclear, Nisar said.

A remote-controlled device was fixed into a Suzuki Alto, and about 15 to 20 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack, a Bomb Disposal Unit official confirmed, adding that artillery shells were also used to increase the lethality of the explosives.

This was the third bomb attack to rock Peshawar within a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2011.