Suicide bombing in Pakistan’s Peshawar wounds at least eight

At least eight people have been wounded in a suicide bombing near a truck carrying paramilitary forces in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to police.

The explosion on Tuesday took place on a busy road in Hayatabad, a suburb of the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a newly founded armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack. Last week, the same group attacked a military base in the southwestern province of Balochistan, killing at least four soldiers.

Shehzad Akbar Khan, medical director of the Hayatabad Medical Complex, said two people had been admitted to the hospital for treatment after Tuesday’s explosion. They were both in stable condition. The remaining wounded were taken to a military hospital.

The bombing struck a vehicle of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, police officials were quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The blast badly damaged the truck and also hit other nearby vehicles carrying civilians. The attacker was killed.

Pakistan’s army said last week that it was seriously concerned that fighters had found safe havens in neighbouring Afghanistan, and it threatened to take an “effective response” after 12 Pakistani soldiers died in two attacks.