PESHAWAR: Three people were injured in a grenade attack near a private hospital in the Shinwari Town neighbourhood of the city on Friday, police said.

An official at Pharipura police station told Dawn that son of the MMC Hospital’s owner was apparently target of the attack. “The attack was probably spurred by a demand for ransom,” said the police official.

He said that unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade when the hospital’s owner, Usman, was returning from the Friday prayers. The blast left Usman, Khan Bahadar and Yaqoob injured. They were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital.

A police official told Dawn that the hospital had received extortion demands in the past.

Soon after the blast, rescue workers put the number of the injured at 20. However, later Peshawar SSP operations Sajjad Khan confirmed that only three people were injured in the explosion.

The Counter-Terrorism Department has registered an FIR of the incident.

Meanwhile, the city police on Friday claimed to have foiled a terrorism bid, as they arrested two militants and recovered 34 kilogrammes of explosives from their possession. SSP operations Sajjad Khan told reporters at the Police Lines that the arrests were made in an intelligence-based operation. He said that they raided an unoccupied house in Yasinabad locality of Chamkani and arrested two militants.

He identified the militants as Razam Khan and Hazrat Sher, both residents of Bajaur Agency.

He said that during search of the house the police recovered two drums containing explosives, besides magnet bombs, hand grenades and detonators.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2017