Explosion in Peshawar kills 2 police officers, injures 8
Police van providing security to a polio team was targeted.
Relatives and rescue workers carry the coffin of a man, who was killed in the blast. PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR:
A remote-controlled bomb explosion in Peshawar killed two police officers and injured eight on Monday, Express News reported.
The explosion took place near a hospital in the Budh Bher area of the city.
According to initial details, the police van which was providing security to a polio team was targeted.
Around 12 police officers were in the van at the time of the blast.
The injured - including police officers - were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital where emergency was declared.
Security forces surrounded the area and started a search operation.
"It was an IED blast and the target was policemen," Najeebur Rehman, a senior police official told AFP, adding that the bomb went off just as officers reached the village to provide security to polio teams.
Nasir Durrani, police chief for northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed the incident and death toll.
"Most of those wounded were policemen," Durrani said.
Raheel Shah, another police official told AFP that polio workers remained safe in the attack as they were inside a health clinic in the village.
Authorities said bomb disposal experts defused a second device close to the site of the first blast and had halted polio vaccination.
"A second bomb weighing five kilo-grams of explosive has been defused. We have suspended the campaign for time being," Zahurul Islam, a senior government official told AFP.
Islam said all those wounded in the blast were policemen, adding that a total of 54 polio workers including 24 women were present inside the clinic.
Polio campaigns in three areas of the city have been suspended.
Peshawar is no stranger to bloodshed. It lies on the edge of the tribal areas and has frequently been hit by bombings and shootings.
Recent attacks include a suicide bombing on a church service, a bomb on a bus carrying government staff home after work and a powerful car bomb targeting a busy market on September 29. About 150 people were killed in the three attacks.
A remote-controlled bomb explosion in Peshawar killed two police officers and injured eight on Monday, Express News reported.
The explosion took place near a hospital in the Budh Bher area of the city.
According to initial details, the police van which was providing security to a polio team was targeted.
Around 12 police officers were in the van at the time of the blast.
The injured - including police officers - were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital where emergency was declared.
Security forces surrounded the area and started a search operation.
"It was an IED blast and the target was policemen," Najeebur Rehman, a senior police official told AFP, adding that the bomb went off just as officers reached the village to provide security to polio teams.
Nasir Durrani, police chief for northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed the incident and death toll.
"Most of those wounded were policemen," Durrani said.
Raheel Shah, another police official told AFP that polio workers remained safe in the attack as they were inside a health clinic in the village.
Authorities said bomb disposal experts defused a second device close to the site of the first blast and had halted polio vaccination.
"A second bomb weighing five kilo-grams of explosive has been defused. We have suspended the campaign for time being," Zahurul Islam, a senior government official told AFP.
Islam said all those wounded in the blast were policemen, adding that a total of 54 polio workers including 24 women were present inside the clinic.
Polio campaigns in three areas of the city have been suspended.
Peshawar is no stranger to bloodshed. It lies on the edge of the tribal areas and has frequently been hit by bombings and shootings.
Recent attacks include a suicide bombing on a church service, a bomb on a bus carrying government staff home after work and a powerful car bomb targeting a busy market on September 29. About 150 people were killed in the three attacks.