Three children were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Peshawar’s Warsak Road on Tuesday morning, rescue and police officials said. According to Warsak Superintendent of Police Arshad Khan, the incident took place near the Peshawar Public School at around 9:10am. Police and rescue teams were sent to the site as soon as the blast was reported, he told media persons, adding that the injured children were moved to a private hospital. The official revealed that four kilogrammes of explosives, planted in a “cemented block” on the side of the road, were used in the blast. The area has been cordoned off and further investigation is under way, Khan said. “It would be premature to say who was the target,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Peshawar Lady Reading Hospital told that four injured persons, including three children, were brought to the facility. He said the condition of two children was critical. “All of them are aged between seven and 10,” Asim Khan stated, adding that none of the children were wearing a school uniform. Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said windows of a nearby building and windshields of two Suzuki vans were shattered due to the intensity of the blast. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year. Last month, five people were killed and over 20 sustained injuries in a blast targeting police in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan.

 Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)