PESHAWAR: Three personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and a civilian were killed and 12 people injured as bomb explosions rattled the city on Monday.

The FC men lost their lives when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security checkpost outside the Iranian Consulate in the University Town. Eight other people, including six FC personnel, were injured in the blast.

SSP Najeebur Rehman told Dawn that the bomber was heading towards the consulate after disembarking from an explosives-laden car at Safwat Ghayyur Road when security personnel opened fire at him and the man blew himself up.

A bomb disposal unit defused the explosives, said to be 60kgs, in the car.

The SSP said the suicide bomber’s vest contained five kgs of explosives with ball bearings. His body parts have been found.

Talking to newsmen at the blast site, Mr Rehman said the bomber’s target was the Iranian consulate, but security personnel saved many lives by sacrificing their own.

Security has been put on high alert across the provincial capital.

“My staff was reluctant to get close to the car, therefore, I personally defused explosives,” the head of the bomb disposal unit, AIG Shafqat Malik, told Dawn.

Cantonment Circle SP Kamran Faisal said security personnel opened fire after the bomber had ignored their warning to stop.

The injured FC man, Arbab, told newsmen at the Khyber Teaching Hospital that the bomber was wearing police uniform.

A hospital source said two FC men identified as Noor Nabi and Ali Hussain had died before reaching the hospital.

The injured were identified as Mazhar Ali Kailat Hussain, Shahadat Hussain, Noor Mohammad, Ihtesham, Arbab Hussain, Riaz Ali, Naik Nawaz and Ali Sadiq. One of them was to be in critical condition. The blast led to a traffic jam on the University Road. Police and security forces condoned off the area to look for handlers of the bomber.

In another blast, a man identified as Taif was killed when an improvised explosive device planted outside his residence went off in Suleman Khel.

Two people were injured when a blast took place at Badu Samar Bagh in the remit of Paharipura police station.

Haji Munir suffered injuries in the Wazirbagh area of Yakatoot police station when a hand-grenade was hurled at his residence

A man was injured in another grenade attack on a house in Afghan Colony. A blast took place in Hayatabad, but no-one was injured.

AFP adds: Iran’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the bombing.

Its spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham called for “close cooperation” of regional countries to combat the “spread of terror acts and extremism, particularly (attacks) against diplomatic missions”.