Pakistan: deadly bombing at Peshawar religious school

A blast at a religious seminary in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar killed at least seven people including several children and injured 83 others, officials have said.

The deadly explosion took place around 8:30am at Jamia Zuberia Madressah, in Peshawar’s Dir Colony where around 500 students were gathered to attend a Qu’ran class. Most of the students were between 20 and 30 years old.

Police superintendent Waqar Azeem Kharal said the blast had been caused by high quality explosives brought into the madrassa lecture hall in a bag.

At least four children are said to be among the dead and at least two teachers have been wounded, said a police official.

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No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.

The dead and injured, many suffering from severe burns from the blast, were brought to nearby Lady Reading hospital, which was placed under red alert.

Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesperson Mohammad Asim said: “We have received seven dead bodies. 83 are injured and out of that 5 have been shifted to Hayatabad burn centre as they were severely burnt. In the beginning we had to deal with the aggression of people who lost their family members in the blast but now we are in a better situation.”

The madrassa is largely for adult students and many were studying when the blast happened, said city resident Abdul Rahim, whose said his 27-year old cousin was among the wounded.

“He told us they were attending a class when the blast took place,” Rahim said.

Peshawar is the provincial capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The province has been the scene of such militant attacks in recent years, but sectarian violence has also killed or wounded people at mosques or seminaries across Pakistan.

Some of the attacks have been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

The latest attack comes two days after a bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta killed three people.