Five of family killed in Kohat blast in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Five members of a family were among the 18 victims of Tuesday’s blast targeting family quarters in police lines in Kohat city of northwest Pakistan.

Zakran Ali, a police constable, was about to break his fast with his wife and three children when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the wall of the police quarters.

The blast victims include 12 women and four children, police said. No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet.

Bomb disposal squad officials said that more that 300 kg of explosive material was used in the suicide attack.

“A constable tried to stop the vehicle at the gate before it exploded,” said Dilawar Khan Bangash, district police officer of Kohat.

At least 56 people were also injured in the Kohat blast and at least seven of these are reported to be in critical condition. A similar blast targeting a police station in Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province had killed 19 people including nine children.

On Wednesday morning, a police vehicle was attacked in Hangu town killing two officials, raising the number of casualties to 39 in three days of attacks on police in KPK.

Bangash said police had received threats that security forces and government officials could be the target of militants.

Information Minister of KPK Iftikhar Hussain said that “the militants are trying to take advantage of the situation arising from floods because the government machinery is involved in rehabilitation efforts”.

“I urge the armed forces to launch an operation in Bara tehsil which has become a new shelter for these terrorists,” he said.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at ians.pakistan@gmail.com)