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A Koran school in Peshawar was in full operation when a bomb suddenly exploded. At least eight children died and more than 110 were injured. Prime Minister Khan spoke of a “barbaric and cowardly attack”.
At least eight children were killed in a bomb blast at a Koran school in northwestern Pakistan. More than 110 people were injured in the incident in the city of Peshawar, said Kamran Bangash, Information Minister for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
A state of emergency was declared in the city’s hospitals and the police and security forces went on alert. Many of those injured between the ages of 8 and 15 are in critical condition, a doctor said.
Television images showed a debris field inside the Koran school. One teacher told Pakistani broadcaster “Dunya News”: “It was a terrible sound, huge and deafening. I was in a different part of the building. When I ran out there was fire, smoke and destruction.” The lifeless bodies of his friends were bloody.
Pakistani Taliban deny the act
At first no one confessed to the attack. The Pakistani Taliban denied being responsible for the bomb blast. Police said a stranger was suspected of placing around six kilograms of explosives at the Koran school. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the act as a “barbaric and cowardly attack” and promised to bring those responsible to justice.
Northwest Pakistan was silent for a long time after a military offensive against Islamist terrorist groups in 2014. However, there were repeated attacks by Islamist extremists in the border region with Afghanistan. The attack is reminiscent of the attack by the Pakistani Taliban, which killed more than 150 people, mainly children and youth, at a Peshawar school in 2014.
