Peshawar: At least seven people lost their lives while 16 others were injured when a blast targeted a pro-government peace committee office in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province bordering Afghanistan, said officials.
According to Kuwait News Agency, a senior police official, Station House Officer Usman Nazir, informed the media that the peace committee office was the target, as there was a meeting going on there at the time of the explosion. Five of the injured are reportedly in critical condition. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The provincial Health Adviser, Ehtesham Ali, stated that an emergency has been declared in the hospitals.
The blast comes on the day when the Pakistan military confirmed that the number of militants killed in the three-day anti-inflation operation has risen to 71. The blast coincides with a rise in terror attacks across Pakistan, especially in KPK and Balochistan provinces bordering Afghanistan.