Pak law enforcement agencies detain several people to find clues after Peshawar seminary attack

Law enforcement ncies in Pakistan on Wednesday detained several people in connection with bomb blast at a religious seminary in rthwest Pakistan's Peshawar city that killed eight students and y suspect target of attack was a senior cleric from Afghanistan.

blast occurred around 8:30 am on Tuesday at a local mosque, which also serves as a religious school in Dir Colony in interior Peshawar, while students were reing Quran.re was claim of responsibility for blast in city, bordering war-torn Afghanistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Sanaullah Abbasi told reporters that about five kilogrammes of explosives were used in attack; however, re was specific alert about this attack.

Police, Elite Force, Rapid Response Force and Bomb Disposal Squ have conducted search operation Dir Colony and joining areas and detained several suspects in door-to-door search.Students d 20-30 were killed in blast. Most of those injured in attack belonged to Afghanistan.

Police said that attack targeted a class with Sheikh Rahimuddin Haqqani, a senior cleric and instructor. y suspect that Haqqani could be target of attack.

Haqqani, an Afghan national from Jalalab, remained safe in attack. Haqqani h survived a previous attempt to assassinate him four years ago.

A special interrogation team of officials has also been constituted to question arrested suspects, Duniya News reported.

Statements of eyewitnesses who h indicated about a bag by a suspected person have also been recorded, it said.

An FIR has been registered at Counter Terrorism Department police station in Peshawar against unkwn persons in connection with case.

Medics at Ly Reing Hospital said that majority of injured were suffering from hea­ring loss and burn wounds.

Up to 90 per cent of injured were discharged after providing initial treatment, while those who h sustained serious wounds were mitted.Tehreek-i-Taliban in Pakistan, which h been behind several attacks in Pakistan in past, has denied any involvement in attack and condemned it.

Security sources told Dawn that a sophisticated timed device was used in attack.

attack does t bear signature of usual suspects like Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] and its or offshoots,a senior official said, ding that it appeared to be handiwork of a rar well-trained and an organised new group.

explosives impact indicates that military-gre explosive or TNT was used in attack, source said, ding that perhaps why blast left a big crater in hard marble floor.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday passed a unanimous resolution, condemning attack.