JNN 11 July 2013 Kohat :  At least two people were killed and another Dozen were injured when a high intensity bomb exploded outside a mosque in a shia neighborhood of  Kohat, a main city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday. Pakistan’s first day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, police said.

Katcha Pakka area is adjacent to Hangu, which is the situated on the Border of the Federally Adiministered Tribal Area ( FATA) where violent and terrorist attacks are frequent.

Local security officials said the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked near the mosque and a temporary bus-stand in Kacha Pakka area on Kohat’s Hangu road , and the explosion was carried out through a remote-controlled device. The bomb exploded just as worshipers were coming out of the mosque after offering Zuhr prayers.

“Between four and five kilograms of explosive material was used in the bomb. I can confirm the death of two people and seven people were injured,” the daily Dawn newspaper quoted Kohat District Police officer Dilawar Bangash as saying.

Security officials said they have cordoned off the area after the blast, and launched an investigation into the incident.

The injured were shifted to the district headquarters hospital, where officials said the condition of some of the wounded was critical.

The powerful explosion also damaged nearby shops.

No group or person has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but pro-Taliban Terrorist groups have been responsible for such attacks in the past.

Pakistani security forces have launched several operations in the troubled northwest in a bid to flush out militants from its tribal zone.

Despite the Pakistani government’s operations against Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and associated groups, they have been able to spread their influence in various regions of the country and kill thousands of people.

Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001 when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US in its so-called war against terrorism.

Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.

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