Bomb kills 7 children in Pakistani Islamic school

Tue, Oct 27, 2020
By editor
2 MIN READ

Foreign

Police on Tuesday reported that a bomb ripped through the main study hall of an Islamic school in north-western Pakistan, killing seven children and wounding scores more.

Local Police Chief, Mohamed Ali Khan, said the bomb went off in the city of Peshawar when around 100 children aged between eight and 15 were taking early morning Koran lessons.

Khan said a man entered the Islamic school at around 0800 hours and left an explosive-filled bag inside the hall, citing footage from the surveillance cameras.

He added that the bomb, which had ball bearings inside, hit almost everybody in the hall and created a huge crater.

Abdul Wahab, a doctor at the city’s Lady Reading Hospital, said at least seven children had died so far and more than 65 were being treated.

Wahab said many children were in a critical condition, adding that he fears that the death toll might go up.

Police official, Madad Khan, said adding that up to six kilogrammes of explosive materials were used in the bomb.

Khan said that the area has been cordoned off and Police were searching for the man who was seen leaving the bag in the school.

A rescuer, Bilal Faizi, said the rescue operation has been completed and the dead bodies and injured people have been transported to the hospital.

Kamran Bangash, Regional Information Minister, also announced that a state of emergency has been declared at all city’s hospitals and police and other security agencies have been put on a high alert.

Militants linked with the Pakistani Taliban stormed a military-run school in Peshawar in 2014, killing around 150 children in one of the country’s deadliest attacks.

Militants from al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State extremist groups have killed around 70,000 people in Pakistan including politicians, security forces, activists and journalists since 2004.

A series of military offensives from mid-June 2014 pushed the militants into neighbouring Afghanistan.

But they still have the capability of launching surprise attacks. (dpa/NAN)

– Oct. 27 2020 @ 11:39 GMT |

Tags: