PESHAWAR: At least seven people were killed and six injured when a powerful blast hit a passenger coach here on Thursday.

Police said explosives left in two bags went off in the Parachinar-bound coach on Kohat Road.

Capital City Police Officer Ejaz Khan told Dawn that a man had placed the bags in the rear of the vehicle. He asked the driver to wait for him that he was coming back with women accompanying him.

An officer of the bomb disposal squad said the bags contained over 5kg of explosives.

“There is a rush of people going to their native areas to celebrate Eidul Azha with their families,” a police official said. The blast caused suspension of traffic on the road for about an hour.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Najeebur Rehman Bhagvi said the blast could be a reaction to the army operation in North Waziristan. He said all terrorist outfits, including Al Qaeda, had joined hands and were carrying out such attacks.

Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for Rescue Services 1122, said it was difficult to retrieve bodies from the remains of the van. Three of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, he said. The other bodies were identified as those of Jamil Hussain of the Frontier Constabulary, passerby Fazal Khan of Bazidkhel, security guard Sadaqat Ali, who was coming from Karachi to celebrate Eid with family, and Imtiaz Hussain.

Lady Reading Hospital’s spokesman Syed Jamil Shah confirmed that three bodies could not be identified. Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah, Shahid Rehman (driver), Amjad Ali and Ishtiaq Hussain are among the six injured.

The van was completely burnt, but three CNG tanks were found intact.

The blast damaged nearby shops at the Bazidkhel bus stop.

According to police, seven bombs were defused on Thursday. “Today was the worst day in my professional career,” AIG Shafqat Malik, head of the bomb disposal unit said. It appeared that the bombs were intended to destroy an electric pylon and hit police and a convoy of law-enforcement personnel, he said.

“Imagine what would have happened if all the bombs had gone off.” These bombs were of advanced quality. A pipe-bomb had the expertise possessed only by Al Qaeda, he said. “Tough days are ahead,” he added.

A tower of Sakhi Chashma-Shahi Bagh transmission line was partially damaged when an attempt was made to blow it up early in the morning.

A news agency quoted police officers as saying that the motive of the attack was not clear, but it was suspected to be of a sectarian nature.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2014