Three children killed in Orakzai volleyball match explosion

KALAYA: Three children were killed in a bomb explosion triggered by a remote-controlled device during a volleyball match in the Kada Bazaar area in Orakzai Agency, an official said on Monday.
Assistant Political Agent Arshad Khan told reporters that unknown persons had planted an explosive device in the stands for spectators. He saidthe explosion was caused when the villagers were watching a volleyball match between two local teams in the Kada Bazaar area in the lower part of the Orakzai Agency.
Three children — Wasim Ali, Nazim Ali and Sarfaraz Ali — were killed. Nine others including Raziq Ali, Mudassir Ali, Salar Ali, Razim Ali, Zahid Ali, Syed Abbas, Ali Raza, Saeed Ali and Yasir Ali sustained injuries in the terrorist attack.
The injured villagers were taken to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Kalaya town. In-charge of the hospital, Dr Ali told The News that three among the injured were referred to the Kohat Development Authority Hospital in critical condition.
An eyewitness Zulfiqar Abbas told reporters that some of the spectators were injured in the stampede after the blast.Security forces launched a search operation in the area after the incident and arrested 12 suspects. They were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
No individual or organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the blast. However, it is possible that sectarian terrorists were behind the attack.
The bomb blast on Monday refreshed the tragic memory of a similar incident five years ago when on January 1, 2010, a volleyball match in Shah Hassankhel village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district was hit by a suicide bomber riding a vehicle, killing more than 100 people, mostly young men. Meanwhile, Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan condemned the blast and expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives. The governor said the elements involved in this heinous crime would be brought to justice.
APP adds from Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bomb blast that took place in the Lower Orakzai.He deplored the loss of lives and expressed the government’s resolve to eradicate the menace of terrorism and extremism.
The prime minister also asked the provincial governments to ensure public display of anti terror helpline number 1717 so that such instances could be averted and their perpetrators apprehended.