Bomb kills at least 17 in northwest Pakistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A remotely-controlled bomb has exploded on a bus carrying government employees in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 17 people, Deutsche Welle reports.

The area, near the Afghan border, has been hit by several deadly attacks in recent months.

The bomb went off Friday, Sept 27, as the bus was travelling through the outskirts of Peshawar, in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Nasir Durrani, the police chief of the province, told reporters a remote-controlled bomb was planted at the back of the bus, which was shuttling government staff home to the town of Charsadda after work. Durrani confirmed that 17 people had been killed and at least 43 more wounded.

Peshawar lies near the frontier tribal areas of the northwest along the Afghan border, where Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants have their strongholds. Peshawar lies 196 km (121 miles) from Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Islamist violence has been on the rise in Pakistan in the past few months, deteriorating newly-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to mitigate the insurgency by launching peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.

Last week, two suicide bombers attacked an Anglican church in Peshawar, killing at least 81 people.