Motorbike bomb kills two security men in Peshawar

Published November 21, 2014
A view of a motorcycle mangled due to the explosion. - DawnNews screengrab
A view of a motorcycle mangled due to the explosion. - DawnNews screengrab

PESHAWAR: A bomb targeting a security forces' vehicle killed two and wounded as many on Warsak Road in Peshawar's Mathra Bazaar area on Friday.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar, which split from the main Pakistani Taliban in September, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“A remote controlled bomb planted on a motorbike went off as an army vehicle passed by it, killing one soldier and wounding another who later succumbed to his injuries,” a senior security official told news agency AFP.

A local police official also confirmed the incident and casualties.

SP (Rural) Shakir Bangash told Dawn that the bomb was remotely detonated as a security forces' pick-up truck passed by it. He added that four to five kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast.

Jamaatul Ahrar claims responsibility

In a telephone call to AFP, Ehsan Ullah Ehsan, spokesman of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar said the attack was revenge of one of their members who was killed in an operation by the army.

“We will continue to target the Pakistani military in the future,” he said.

Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistani tribal areas which are known to be strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants.

The city has seen frequent attacks by militants in recent years, with targets ranging from civilians to policemen and other law enforcement personnel.

The military has been battling extremist militant groups in the northwest and the semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after it entered the tribal region to search for Al Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

In June the army began a major offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal agency, a stronghold for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Opinion

Editorial

Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...
Provincial share
Updated 17 Mar, 2024

Provincial share

PPP has aptly advised Centre to worry about improving its tax collection rather than eying provinces’ share of tax revenues.
X-communication
17 Mar, 2024

X-communication

IT has now been a month since Pakistani authorities decided that the country must be cut off from one of the...
Stateless humanity
17 Mar, 2024

Stateless humanity

THE endless hostility between India and Pakistan has reduced prisoners to mere statistics. Although the two ...