Two killed in Peshawar blast

Two persons were killed and as many injured when a bomb went off in a market in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan on Friday, said the police. The locally-made explosive device was planted in a shop at Gur Mandi in Peshawar, said a police official.

Only one of the dead had been identified, he said. The bomb weighed 1.5 kg, police said, adding that the area was cordoned off and a search launched for the attackers. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Peshawar has been hit by a series of bombings and suicide attacks since the army launched operations against the Taliban in northwest Pakistan last year.