Daily Times

PESHAWAR: At least 17 people were killed in an explosion in the premises of a local court in Charsadda’s Shabqadar area on Monday, hospital sources said.The Jamatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to journalists.

The blast left at least 30 people injured, while two police personnel and a woman were among the dead.Official sources at the Shabqadar Hospital said they received 13 bodies, while the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar received four.

District Police Officer Sohail Khalid said that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.The attacker was intercepted by policemen stationed at the court gate as he was attempting to enter the Sessions Court premises.

The cops fired at the attacker who detonated his explosives with a loud bang. At least 17 people, including two policemen were killed while 30 others were wounded in the attack.

Eyewitnesses at the site said they heard firing after a loud blast.At the time of the explosion, the courts were crowded after a break over the weekend.Some vehicles parked in the vicinity of the blast site caught fire.Security and emergency teams reached the blast site and sealed the area. Shabqadar tehsil is close to Mohmand tribal region, which is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.