Police said a medium-intensity explosive device weighing two kilogrammes was planted in Mattani Civil Hospital. PHOTO: FILE
Patients and staffers at Mattani Civil Hospital narrowly escaped when a bomb planted by unidentified militants failed to explode on Thursday morning.
Police said a medium-intensity explosive device weighing two kilogrammes was planted outside the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) room in Mattani Civil Hospital. Though its detonator exploded, the explosives, stuffed in a soft drink bottle, did not. The device was later defused by the bomb disposal squad (BDS).
“The incident took place early morning, but even then, dozens of patients and staffers were present inside the hospital,” said a police official. He speculated the militants might have mistaken this immunisation programme room for a polio vaccination office.
On Wednesday, a gunman opened fire on two policemen escorting female vaccinators in Musam Kallay, a village in Par Hoti area of Mardan. One of them died while the other was seriously wounded as a result.
Two weeks ago, militants killed Adezai peace militia volunteer Pervez Khan, who had recently been recruited as an ambulance driver at Mattani Civil Hospital.
Mattani is a militancy-hit area on the outskirts of the district. It borders Darra Adam Khel on one side and Akka Khel, Khyber Agency and Frontier Region Peshawar on the other.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2013.
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