PESHAWAR: The police on Tuesday foiled a terrorist bid by defusing an explosive device weighing over six kilogrammes on the outskirts of the capital city here, police said.

Officials said the bomb was planted on a roadside in the Qazi Killay locality, falling in the limits of the Faqirabad police station.

A police official at the Faqirabad police station said that they were tipped off about the presence of a suspect package on a roadside in the Qazi Killay village.

He said that later they called the bomb disposal unit, which defused the bomb. He said that earlier during the day a police patrol had passed the same area; however, it did not use the same route for return.

The police official said that the explosive device could have caused huge loss of life if it was not defused timely.

A bomb disposal unit official said that the device weighed about six to seven kilogrammes and was packed inside a canister. He said that to increase its lethality, the explosives were topped with ball bearings.

Police registered FIR and started further investigations.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017