At Least 25 Killed, Over 50 Injured in Khyber Agency Car Bomb Blast
A car bomb ripped through a market area in Khyber Agency near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing 25 people including three children, officials said.
“The death toll is 25,” from the blast in the main bazaar of Landi Kotal in Khyber tribal district, local administration chief Mutahir Zeb told AFP, adding more than 50 people were injured, some of them seriously.
Hospital officials confirmed the toll.
Zeb said there were 18 bodies at the Landi Kotal hospital while seven victims had died while being taken for treatment in Peshawar. The dead included three children aged nine, 10 and 12, he added.
Motor mechanic Sajidullah Khan, who was wounded in the leg, forearms and face, told AFP: “I was checking a car when I heard a huge blast nearby. I knew nothing afterwards and came to in the hospital.”
Shakoor Jan, an electrician, said he was sitting in his shop when the blast rocked the whole area. “There was fire in several shops,” he said. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet. Arshad Khan, a local administration official, said the blast appeared to be aimed at members of the pro-government Zakha Khel tribe, who oppose a local warlord, Mangal Bagh.