Click to play videoAt least fourteen people were reported killed and at least 10 injured when militants targeted a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bus with a powerful bomb in the northwestern city of Peshawar today.
The blast occurred when the vehicle was passing over but it was a bridge in Kohat Road locality, police said not clear whether a roadside bomb or a suicide attack caused it.
The identity of those killed is not clear but could be air force personnel.
The blast was so powerful that it uprooted electricity poles by the side of the road and created a 16-foot wide crater on the bridge.
The explosion also hit others cars and motorcycles. The PAF bus was completely destroyed. Fire tenders were summoned to douse the flames of the bus that continued to burn long after the blast.
The Kohat road is travelled heavy by armed forces and paramilitary personnel.
It is suspected that the bomb was triggered remotely apparently by Taliban. There was no claim of responsibility, but Taliban militants based on the Afghan border have been blamed for a series of attacks on security forces over the past year.
The injured were rushed to hospitals in Peshawar by the police and people in their vehicles. Four of the injured are said to be in critical condition.
"Eleven bodies were brought to the hospital while two of the victims succumbed to their injuries," Lady Reading Hospital medical officer Khizar Hayat said.
Many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
Security forces sealed off the site of the blast soon after the attack and investigators began scouring the area. Officials said up to 30 to 40 kg of explosives could have been used in the attack.
Air force spokesman Air Cmdr. Humayun Waqar Zephyr confirmed the attack but said he had no details.
The bombing follows threats from Taliban militants to launch attacks on the government for military operations in the northwestern frontier region bordering Afghanistan.
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