Eight martyred, over 100 injured in Peshawar seminary blast

PESHAWAR: At least eight students were killed and more than 100 injured in a bomb blast on Tuesday inside a seminary in Peshawar, police and hospital officials said.

The blast occurred at the seminary in Peshawar’s Dir Colony where students were taking a religious lesson. The teacher who was delivering the lecture survived the attack with minor wounds. A senior police officer, Mansoor Aman, while confirming the death toll, said it was an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion. The loud blast, which could be heard across most parts of Peshawar, wrecked the seminary’s interior and damaged the roof of the main hall. It was not immediately known why the madrassa was targeted and no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Muhammad Asim, said more than 100 victims were brought to the health facility, among them seven were dead while another expired during treatment. He added 95 injured of the blast were still under treatment at the hospital. Five of the injured were in a critical condition, he further said.

He said five of the deceased were identified as Muhammad Zahoor, resident of Waziristan, Muhammad Arif, son of Gul Shan, resident of Khyber district, Naimat Khan, son of Saifur Rehman from Afghanistan, Zubair son of Habibullah, resident of Afghanistan and Maroof Khan, son of Awal Khan, resident of Mashokhel, Peshawar. The identity of the remaining three dead could not be ascertained so far.

During the visit to the hospital, Provincial Health Minister Saleem Taimur Jhagra said many of the injured received burn injuries, adding lethal chemical and components were used in the IED to cause maximum damage to human life. The minister said death toll could increase as some of the injured had critical wounds and burn injuries.

Provincial Information Minister Kamran Bangash, speaking to the media at the site of the blast, said a suspected man was reportedly seen entering the seminary around 08:00 am with a bag in his hand. “The man placed the bag inside the hall and left the premises. After some time the bomb concealed inside the bag exploded with a big bang killing and injuring the innocent students.”

He said students aged between 20 and 28 years were in the last stage of their courses’ completion “but the anti-state and inhuman elements did not let them to accomplish their religious schooling”. He said terrorists attacked innocent students as they were soft target.

After the APS (Army Public School) tragedy, he said, it was the second bloody and cowardice attack targeting students. There were security threats and fear of terror attacks and proper security measures were adopted at sensitive places but terrorists chose an easy target of attacking innocent seminary students.

Assistant Inspector General Bomb Disposal Squad Shafqat Malik told media a time device was used in the powerful explosion. The bomb was concealed in a bag that was placed inside main hall of the mosque of a local seminary where students were taking lessons. He rejected reports it was a remote controlled blast. Around five to six kilogram explosives were used in the IED, he added.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan offered his condolences. “I want to assure my nation we will ensure the terrorists responsible for this cowardly barbaric attack are brought to justice asap,” Khan wrote.