Peshawar: Seven killed, 25 injured in Bhatta Tal market blast
The attack came in Sarband village on the edge of Peshawar close to the Khyber tribal district.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk) - At least seven people were killed on Friday and over 25 injured in a suicide blast targeting a police vehicle in a market near northwest city of Peshawar on Friday afternoon, Dunya News reported.
Superintendent Police Kamran Faisal said that the bomb exploded near an armored police vehicle when it was passing by Bhatta Tal market in Sarband, about 10 to 15 km away from Peshawar.
Police and armed forces have cordoned off the area and started search and rescue operation.
The injured people were shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and PTI chairman Imran Khan have strongly condemned the incident.
Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in militant attacks in Pakistan since the emergence of the TTP after a military raid on a radical mosque in 2007, according to an AFP tally.
Continued militant violence, the Islamabad court attack and a roadside bomb targeting security forces last week have threatened to derail the dialogue process. The main Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction denied those attacks, which was claimed by a splinter group.
Friday s attack in Sarband village on the edge of Peshawar close to the Khyber tribal district came as Taliban negotiators met the TTP leadership to discuss the next steps in the talks process.
The target of the blast was a police armoured personnel carrier, officers said.
"It was a suicide attack and the bomber approached the police vehicle on foot," Najeeb-ur- Rahman, a senior police officer said.
"The death toll has been risen to seven. At least 28 people were also wounded."
Mohammad Faisal, another police officer, confirmed the attack and death toll.
