21 killed in Pakistan bus bomb

At least 21 people were killed and more than 33 injured in a bomb attack Friday on a bus in Pakistan's restive north-western region, officials said. The attack occurred in the Gulbela area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, when the bus was travelling to the neighboring district of Charsada, 25 kilometres north-east of Peshawar. Dr Rahim Jan Afridi, head of the Lady Reading Hospital, said that they had received nine dead and 12 injured. "The nine dead include each four men and women, and one child," he said. "Five injured are in serious condition." Some of the victims were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital Charsada, where hospital head Muhammad Nawaz said that they received seven dead and 21 injured. "Five men and two women were among the dead," Nawaz said. "No one of the injured here is in critical condition." For his part, Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that it was believed that explosives were planted at the back of the bus and detonated with the help of a remote control device. Nobody immediately took responsibility for the attack.