ISLAMABAD: A blast at a religious seminary in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar on Tuesday killed at least eight students and injured 136 others, local media and news agencies reported.
“Deeply saddened by terrorist attack on madrassah in Peshawar,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter. “My condolences go to the victims families & prayers for early recovery of the injured. I want to assure my nation we will ensure the terrorists responsible for this cowardly barbaric attack are brought to justice asap.”
Deeply saddened by terrorist attack on madrassah in Peshawar. My condolences go to the victims families & prayers for early recovery of the injured. I want to assure my nation we will ensure the terrorists responsible for this cowardly barbaric attack are brought to justice asap
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 27, 2020
“Those who attack children receiving an education have nothing to do with humanity,” information minister Shibli Faraz said in a Twitter statement. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs and pray for speedy recovery of the injured.”
پشاور مدرسے میں دھماکےکی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں۔ تعلیم و تدریس حاصل کرنے والے طلباءپرحملہ کرنےوالوں کاانسانیت سے کوئی تعلق نہیں۔ ملک کو عدم استحکام سے دوچار کرنے والوں کے مذموم عزائم خاک میں ملائیں گے۔شہداء کے لواحقین سے دلی اظہار تعزیت اور زخمیوں کی جلد صحت یابی کی دعا کرتے ہیں۔
— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) October 27, 2020
Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement: “The whole nation stands side by side with its armed forces and law enforcement agencies in this war on terror … Inshallah we will eradicate this monster of terrorism.”
The blast took place in a madrassa where "unknown people had planted explosives in a plastic bag,” a police officer told Reuters on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with media. Children were among the dead, he added.
A spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital nearby said it had received seven dead and 70 wounded patients, many with burns suffered in the blast. Later, officials confirmed that the number had increased.
Pakistan’s local Dawn newspaper reported that a majority of those injured in the blast at the Jamia Zuberia seminary in Peshawar’s Dir Colony were believed to be children.
“The blast took place in a seminary during a Qur’an class. Someone took a bag inside the seminary. At least four seminary students have been killed and 34 wounded,” Waqar Azim, a senior police official, told AFP.
Mohammad Ali Gandapur, another senior police official, confirmed the blast and details. He said two teachers were among the wounded.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra visited the site of the blast. Speaking to reporters, he said the focus at the moment was on providing the injured the best possible treatment to increase their chances of recovery.
