Pakistan Bomb Blast: Occurs In The Middle Of Lecture And Just Days After Intelligence Warning

Photo illustration of a school in Karachi, Pakistan (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - A powerful bomb blast destroyed an Islamic madrasa on the outskirts of Peshawar City, Pakistan, Tuesday morning, October 27. The attack came days after intelligence warned of the threat of militant attacks on public places and important buildings, including seminaries and mosques.

The explosion killed seven students and injured at least 112 others. The bombing took place when a prominent cleric delivered a lecture on Islamic teachings in the main hall of the Jamia Zubairia Madrasah. The earliest investigations revealed that the explosion occurred minutes after an unidentified person left a bag at the madrasa.

Police said the bag contained at least five kilograms of explosives. Video footage shows the damaged madrasa hall. Several injured victims - consisting of students, teachers and employees - are now in critical condition. Hospital authorities fear the death toll could rise further.

Initially police said the bombing killed and injured children. However, later that statement was clarified. The victims were mostly students in their mid-20s. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the bombing and asked the authorities to ensure the best medical assistance to the victims.

Explodes in the middle of a lecture

From the hospital bed, a student was injured, Mohammad Saqib (24) said the cleric Rahimullah Haqqani was explaining the verses of the Koran when suddenly the explosion was deafening. People suddenly burst into tears and there were students covered in blood.

"Someone helped me and put me in an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital," he said, quoted by Euronews, Tuesday, October 27. Saqib's condition was stable, although his head and arms were bandaged when the interview was conducted.

The attacks come days after Pakistani intelligence warned of militant attacks on public areas and important buildings, including madrassas and mosques across Pakistan, including Peshawar.

There has been no acknowledgment from any party that has claimed responsibility for the attack in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan. The province has been the scene of militant attacks in recent years.

However, sectarian violence has also killed and injured scores of people in other mosques or madrassas across Pakistan. The most recent attack occurred two days after the bombing southwest of Quetta. The attack killed three people.

The Pakistani Taliban has targeted public places, schools, mosques and the military across the country since 2001, when the Islamic state joined the US-led war on terror following the September 11 attacks on the United States. Since then the rebels have declared war on the Pakistani government.

They carried out many attacks, including the most brutal, namely an attack on a military-run school in the city of Peshawar in 2014. The attack killed 140 people, including children and several teachers.