Islamabad, Apr 29: A suicide bomber today targeted a police van on a busy thoroughfare of Peshawar city in northwest Pakistan, killing eight persons, including the son of a member of the Afghan High Peace Council.
The attacker, reportedly riding a motorcycle, detonated his explosives near the police van on University Road this morning.
The van was close to a bus stop and a crowded bus that was passing by bore the brunt of the blast, police officials and witnesses said.
Eight persons were killed and about 45 injured, police and rescue service officials said.
Two policemen were among the wounded. Police and security forces cordoned off the area as ambulances rushed the injured to a nearby hospital.
Qazi Hilal Ahmed, the son of Afghan High Peace Council member Qazi Amin Waqad, and Muhammad Idrees, the nephew of Hizb-e-Islami (Khalis group) leader Maulvi Younus Khalis, were among those killed in the attack.
Their bodies were identified by their relatives at Khyber Teaching Hospital, TV news channels reported.
Ahmed was in Pakistan to invite clerics to a Ulema conference to be held in Afghanistan, his relatives said.
Superintendent of Police Muhammad Faisal confirmed the blast was a suicide attack. He said the head and limbs of the bomber had been found at the site.
The police vehicle was the apparent target but the bus suffered more damage, he said.
Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Anees' vehicle passed the site of the blast a few minutes earlier though he escaped unhurt, officials said.
University Road is one of the busiest thoroughfares in Peshawar. Several cars were damaged by the blast.
Yesterday, 12 people were killed and more than 40 injured in four bomb attacks targeting campaign offices and election meetings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. The banned Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for two of the attacks.
Pakistan has witnessed a sudden surge in militant attacks ahead of the landmark May 11 general election that will mark the first democratic transition in the country's history. The attacks have heightened concerns about security for the polls and candidates.
