PARACHINAR: Over 20 people were injured in a bomb explosion in Turi Bazaar area of Parachinar of Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
A blast ripped through a market in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa city of Parachinar on Thursday, leaving several injured, according to police.
Police said the blast took place in the city’s Turi Bazaar, a crowded marketplace which has in the past been a frequent target of terrorist attacks. The nature of the blast has not yet been determined, police officials said.
Turi bazaar area used to have a single track for vehicular traffic which was recently widened and split to keep apart incoming and outgoing traffic.
Despite similar incidents in the past, vendors selling their wares on carts are a common sight, and the carts are targeted by terrorist elements for such attacks.
Furthermore, such carts are found on both sides of the road and attract large volumes of people.
Eyewitnesses present on the occasion were of the view that explosivewas hidden in a vegetable cart which went off and left over two dozen people injured.
DMS Parachinar Hospital Dr Qaiser Hasan said that two among 20 wounded people brought to hospital are critically injured. He said that at least 20 people have been broughtto hospital for treatment including a child.
Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast, saying “terrorists seek to target citizens and leave Pakistan in the grip of terror”. “The whole nation is united against the enemies of Pakistan,” he said.
The PML-N president extended his heartfelt condolences to the affected families and prayed for the early recovery of those injured.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also condemned the attack and expressed concern over the rise of such incidents of terrorism in the country.
“Terrorists have been emboldened due to a lack of implementation of the National Action Plan,” he said.
Bilawal directed all PPP representatives present in Parachinar to come to the aid of those injured. He demanded that those involved be immediately arrested.
