13 killed, many injured in Kohat blast
24 February, 2014
KOHAT: At least 13 people were killed and seceral others injured in a blast near Police Lines in Kohat, garrison town of terrorism-hit province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
Media reports said explosion was occurred near Kohat's Police Lines area close to a girls' college.
Various government offices are also situated nearby.
IG KPK Nasir Durrani, while speaking to media, said the blast was caused by a remote-controlled IED plated on roadside at Hangu Road.
Nasir Durrani said it was an IED blast planted in fruit crate on the roadside. He said that five to six kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.
Those dead and injured were rushed to hospital by police and security forces who cordoned off the area. Police or security personnel were not among the victims.
The blast comes when military fighter jets pounded militant hideouts in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, killing 20 terrorists in early morning strike early Sunday.
The militants suspected hideouts were also pounded in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency on Wednesday during which dozens of militants, most of them foreign fighters, were killed.
The air strikes set off speculations that the government has finally launched army operation in North Waziristan and other restive tribal area, but security officials said the attacks were 'punitive strikes'.
No terror outfit has claimed the responsibility of Sunday blast in Kohat; however, it could be reaction of Taliban, officials said.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have strongly condemned the act of terrorism in Kohat.
He expressed his grief and sorrow over the deaths of innocent people in the blast.
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