8 killed, 37 injured in attacks in NW Pakistan

Eight people were killed and 37 others were injured, many of them were policemen, in two bomb attacks in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar earlier Thursday morning, according to local Urdu TV channel Geo. According to the TV, at about 07:00 a.m. local time Thursday morning, a roadside bomb planted under a pile of fruits along the street in the Lahori Gate area of Peshawar hit a police van carrying an estimated 20 police officers to duty places. Six people including five policemen on the bus and one child were killed on the spot while 17 other police officers on board were injured. Hospital sources said some of the injured are in critical condition. A few hours later after the first blast, two female suicide bombers attacked a checkpost temporarily set up near the first blast site. They first threw a hand grenade, causing a stampede among the people gathering there, before they committed suicide attack. One suicide bomber, aged between 16 to 17, first blew herself up. The other, aged at about 45, failed to detonate her suicide jacket and got wounded in the explosion and later died of the wounds. The suicide attack killed at least two people and injured over 20 others including two policemen, the TV reported. In addition, police foiled the third bomb attack attempt in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar Thursday morning, said the Urdu TV channel Geo. Local reports quoted police sources as saying that Thursday's serial bomb attacks in Peshawar could be a retaliation for a large- scale search operation launched by the police Wednesday night at the outskirts of the city, during which one Taliban leader was arrested.