Over 80 killed in Pakistan terror bombing, plane crash (Roundup)

ISLAMABAD - Over 80 people have been killed in a terrorist attack and a planc crash in Pakistan Friday.

At least 60 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in a mosque near Kohat town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, state television PTV reported. Kohat is about 70 km from Peshawar.

At least 21 people, all Pakistani nationals working for a foreign oil company, were killed when a small private plane crashed near Karachi airport in southern Pakistan.

In the mosque incident, the suicide bomber who carried out the blast was around 17-18 years old, a GEO TV report said quoting security officials. The number of dead and injured is feared to rise as locals were shifting the victims to hospitals in private vehicles as well, it added.

The restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has become a constant victim of terrorist activities because of its proximity with Afghanistan where the war on terror is under way since 2001 while operation against militants has also been launched in Pakistan’s northwestern areas.

“The blast targeted a mosque in Darra Adam Khel when the Friday mid-day prayers were being offered,” said Shahidullah, Dictrict Cordination Officer (DCO) of Kohat. “The roof of the mosque has caved in and several people are still trapped under the debris,” he added.

There are no proper medical facilities in the area, which is about 70 km from Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, media reports said. “The injured are being shifted to Kohat and Peshawar,” said GEO TV.

The aircraft that crashed near Karachi belonged to private airliner JS Air. It had taken off from Karachi airport for an oil field at Bhit Shah when it crashed a few minutes later. The plane was chartered by an Italian company to carry its employees working at the oil field, Aaj TV reported.

The pilot reportedly informed air control tower about some problems with the engine shortly after taking off, Aaj TV said.

JS Air spokesman Nadeem Hanif said the plane was fit to fly and had been cleared by the maintenance staff. Director General Civil Aviation, Air Commodore (Retd) Nasim Ahmad said that all passengers on board the plane have died.

Rescue officials said that the bodies had been badly burnt and were not easily identifiable. All victims were Pakistani nationals, the report said.

In July this year, more than 100 people on board a private Pakistani airline flight from Karachi were killed when the jet crashed in Margalla Hills near Islamabad. Eighteen bodies have not been recovered till now.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at ians.pakistan@gmail.com)