15 Killed, 80 Wounded in Suicide Bomb Attack in Pak

Nearly 15 persons have been killed and 8 others wounded in a suicide bomb blast at the office of a senior government official in the restive Mohmand tribal region in northwest Pakistan, said media reports.

The lone suicide bomber detonated himself outside the office of the assistant political agent in a crowded market at Yakaghund village in Mohmand Agency, reports said.

According to eye witnesses, over 100 people were present outside the office at the time of explosion and of them, at least 15 persons were killed and 80 others injured, said reports.

A prison and some other government offices are located near the office that was targeted.

Officials said that the blast was powerful and many buildings collapsed due to it and some people could be under the debris, reports said.

At least 30 of the injured, including a woman and several children, were taken to hospitals in Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, said reports.

Officials said that at least three of the injured succumbed to their injuries at the state-run Lady Reading Hospital, reports said.

Security forces cordoned off the area around the site of the blast as rescue workers began clearing the rubble and removing the bodies and the injured.

A witness told the media that the suicide bomber had come to the market on a motorcycle. The bomber did not stop when security personnel asked him to.

“Then he suddenly fell and there was a powerful blast,” a witness was quoted as saying.

The Pakistan Army recently conducted operations against the local Taliban in Mohmand Agency.

(Based on internet reports)