PESHAWAR: Three security personnel and six civilians were injured in a roadside bomb blast targeting a Frontier Corps vehicle here on Tuesday.

According to police, the incident took place at around 10am when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near the FC vehicle in the Naguman area, about 20 kilometres northeast of the city centre, along a road connecting Peshawar with Charsadda district.

A police official told Dawn that the vehicle carrying the paramilitary soldiers was coming to Peshawar from Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency. He said the Counter-Terrorism Department had registered an FIR and started investigation.

A Bomb Disposal Unit official said the IED weighed around five kilograms and ball bearings were used to increase the intensity of the device.

Peshawar SSP (operations) Sajjad Khan told reporters that a passenger bus was passing through the area when the blast took place and six people travelling in it were injured.

However, Rescue 1122 officials put the number of injured at 11 — eight civilians and three FC personnel — and said that about 20 people were treated at the blast site for minor injuries and bruises. They identified the civilians as Naik Mohammad, Zahid Ali, Umair Ali, Imran, Nifaz Ali, Niaz Khan, Amjad and Ilyas. Two of the three injured FC personnel were identified as Zahirullah and Shafiq, who were taken to the Combined Military Hospital.

SSP Khan said the condition of all the injured was stable, adding that the FC vehicle and the bus were damaged in the blast.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2017