“We received eight bodies, while one of the injured died during emergency treatment at the hospital. Nine people have been injured including a child and woman while four out of nine are stated to be critical.” Emergency in charge at LRG said.
According to Bomb disposal squad officials terrorists planted an estimated 4-5 KG explosive material on roof top of the van and detonated it when vehicle was moving through a populated area. Blast also wrecked a number of shops in the market.
Ill-fated van was traveling from Scheme Chowk to Sherkara carrying 18 passengers. Motive and target of the blast is still unclear as no group claimed responsibility in this regard. Prime suspect Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has disassociated itself from the incident saying that TTP does not target innocent civilians.
“We have no involvement in this attack. As we said earlier, we will not be target public places where common people may be affected,” Said Ehsanuallah Ahsan, mouthpiece of the Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistan is in grip of renewed violence and such incidents just less than a month ahead of general elections are creating real doubts about security situation in Pakistan. General election are scheduled to be held on May 11 this year. Many political pundits of the country has predicted bloodiest elections in history of Pakistan.