Roundup: 68 killed, 176 injured in 35 bomb attacks in Pakistan in February

At least 68 people were killed and 176 others injured in 35 bomb blasts across Pakistan during the second month of 2015 as the number of bomb attacks increased in reaction to the on-going military operation against the militants in northwest region of the country, according to official figures.

Out of total 35 bomb attacks, three were of suicide nature that killed at least 35 people and left 79 others wounded in three different areas of the country.

According to the statistics, the number of killings in bomb attacks in Feb. 2015 was almost 30 per cent less than the causalities occurred in the previous month of January, 2015.

The month-on-month basis comparison showed that the number of killings in bomb explosions in February, 2015 dropped by almost 28 percent when compared to the number of killings in the same month last year.

The worst attack of the month came on Feb. 13, when a group of three suicide bombers wearing the attire of a paramilitary force stormed a mosque of Shia Muslims when worshippers were offering their Friday prayer in the country's northwestern provincial capital of Peshawar. The suicide bombers entered the mosque firing indiscriminately and throwing hand grenades at security guards and people before exploding their jackets.

According to police, the attack at the mosque was the revision of the terrorist attack at an army-run public school in the city in December last year that left over 150 people killed, including 135 children.

A faction of banned Pakistani militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 24 and injured 50 others.

In another incident on Feb. 17, at least nine people including two police personnel were killed and 25 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a restaurant near the main entrance of a police training center in the country's eastern city of Lahore.

In another attack on Shia Muslims community on Feb. 18, at least five people were killed and six others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the federal capital of Islamabad.

It was the second bomb attack on the Shia Muslims in the same city in two months.

The major bomb attacks were considered to be the reaction of the Pakistan army's on-going operation Zarb-e-Azb (sharp strike) against the militants in the northwestern region, which was launched in June last year.

According to official figures, more than 2,300 militants and 210 soldiers have been killed so far in the military operation that was launched on June 15, 2014 against foreign and local terrorists hiding in North Waziristan, once the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

The operation was launched after the failure of peace talks and a deadly attack at the country's busiest airport in southern port city of Karachi on June 8, 2014 in which at least 40 people including 10 terrorists were killed.

The Pakistan army claimed to have recaptured and cleared more than 90 percent area of the region and have also destroyed hundreds of hideouts, including bomb making factories and command and control centers of the terrorists.

Regarding the number of causalities, Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was the worst hit with four bomb attacks which killed 26 people and injured 64 others.

Militants carried out 10 bomb attacks in northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, which killed 19 people and left 27 others wounded.

The eastern province of Punjab that usually remained peaceful was the third most hit area with two suicide strikes that killed 14 persons and injured 29 others.

The southwestern province of Balochistan stood fourth with 15 attacks that left seven persons killed and 21 others wounded.

At least two children were killed and two others injured when a toy bomb exploded in the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan administered Jammu & Kashmir. Three explosions were carried out in the southern province of Sindh that left 33 wounded.

The statistics revealed that the terrorists carried out a total 35 bomb attacks at the same number of targets, including four direct attacks at security forces and three at police, killing eight security personnel and three policemen while injuring 12 and four, respectively.

Most of the attacks were carried out by planting bombs, which were detonated with remote-controlled devices. Endi