At least 7 killed, 70 injured in blast at seminary in Peshawar

At least seven people were killed and more than 70 injured — a majority of whom are believed to be students — in an explosion on Tuesday morning at a seminary in Peshawar’s Dir Colony.

Quoting one Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Mansoor Aman, Dawn reported that initial inputs suggest an improvised explosive device (IED) was used in the explosion. “Five kgs of explosives were used in the blast.”

The area has been cordoned off and police teams are collecting evidence, he added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“The blast took place in a seminary during a Quran class. Someone took a bag inside the seminary,” Waqar Azim, a senior police official, told AFP.

Mohammad Ali Gandapur, another senior police official, confirmed the details. He said two teachers were among the wounded.

Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim told Dawn that seven dead bodies and 70 injured have been brought to the facility. He said four of the deceased were students between the ages of 15 to 25.

He stated that the injured were being provided with immediate medical attention and the hospital’s director was present at the emergency ward. He added that an emergency had also been declared at the medical facility.

The blast occurred at the Speen Jamaat mosque, which also serves as a religious school for local children, at 8:30am local time (3:30 GMT) on Tuesday, a police official told Al Jazeera.

“It was not a suicide attack, there were explosives that had been kept in a bag there,” he said.

Television footage from the scene of the blast showed significant damage to the interior of the mosque’s main prayer hall, with pockmarks dotting the ceiling and debris strewn across the floor.

This is a developing story. To be updated…