No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion in a city that suffered one of the world’s worst school attacks nine years ago. On Tuesday morning in Peshawar, Pakistan, at least seven people, including four children, were injured by a roadside bomb. The incident occurred opposite a school on a major road when an improvised explosive device detonated.
The area was cordoned off by Peshawar police for further investigation, while the injured were transported to Lady Reading Hospital. Authorities stated it is too early to determine the intended target.
An eight-year-old child sustained serious injuries, while the others were in stable condition. The injured children, all of school-going age, were not in uniform.
Asim Khan, a hospital spokesperson, informed Al Jazeera that they are being monitored at the hospital. The youngest among them is six, while the others are 14 and 17 years old.
This attack adds to a recent surge of violence in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, neighboring Afghanistan.
In northern Pakistan, gunmen attacked a bus, resulting in at least eight deaths and nearly two dozen injuries last week.
On November 3, a police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan city was attacked, leading to five casualties. The following day, a group targeted the Pakistani Air Force’s training base in Mianwali city.
Data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) shows a total of 63 attacks by armed groups in November, causing at least 83 deaths.
The year until November end witnessed 599 attacks, resulting in almost 900 deaths—a significant 81 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2022.
The escalation in attacks follows the unilateral end of a ceasefire by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned group ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban, in November of the previous year.
Pakistan has urged the Afghan Taliban to cease providing safe havens to the TTP, which allegedly seeks shelter in Afghanistan, a charge denied by Kabul.
Analysts express concern that the heightened attacks could signify an expansion of the conflict in the country.
Abdul Basit, a research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, notes that while the regional ISIL group, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), has targeted soft targets like places of worship, schools are not typically their focus.
No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack thus far. With elections approaching, Basit highlights the challenge for law enforcement authorities when armed groups target soft targets, such as children and civilians.
The ongoing refugee crisis between Afghanistan and Pakistan further stretches security forces, reducing their reach, increasing security costs, and undermining public confidence.
Peshawar, scarred by one of Pakistan’s deadliest attacks in 2014 when armed fighters targeted a school, killing over 130 students, faces renewed challenges amid these troubling developments.
