Bomb rips through bus kills 15 in Peshawar - Pakistan

PESHAWAR:  An improvised explosives device (IED) targeting a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, killed Fifteen people and causing injuries to 25 on  Wednesday. The blast that took place near Peshawar's Sunehri Masjid targeted a bus carrying government employees to Hayatabad. According to reports bus was carrying government employees from Mardan to their offices in Hayatabad Nadra, Passport and PDA offices. Fear and panic spread among residents in the wake of the explosion and the area was cordoned off with the injured being shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital. Superintendent of Police Cantonment. Muhammad Kashif said the blast was caused by explosive material planted inside the bus. "Fifteen people were killed and 25 others were severely injured," added the police officer. SSP Operations Abbas Majeed said the blast was caused by a time device of about eight kg planted inside the bus. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani confirmed number of casualties, saying that investigation is underway to determine security flaws. He said the bomb attack might be a backlash of Zarb-e-Azb operation by militants. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman strongly condemned the blast and expressed grief and sorrow over loss of lives.  Peshawar has seen scores of attacks on civilians as well as law enforcement personnel in the past. The city is also the home to the XI Corps, an administrative corp of the Pakistan Army which manages all military activity in KP and is currently engaged in a full-blown operation in North Waziristan.- Khyber News