Peshawar, Dec 5 (IANS): At least six people, including four children, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near a school in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Tuesday, officials said.

Naveed Akhtar, district emergency officer of the state-run Rescue 1122, told Xinhua news agency that the IED went off on the roadside near the Peshawar Public School at around 9.10 a.m.

The injured had been shifted to Lady Reading Hospital in the city whose spokesperson Muhammad Asim told the media that two of the children were in critical condition.

The police have cordoned off the area following the explosion, and an investigation is underway.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti strongly condemned the incident, saying that "children are the future of this country; will protect them under every circumstance".

Caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah condemned the blast and sought a report on it from the police.

Tuesday blast comes amid an uptick in terror activities in Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

Last month, five people were killed and over 20 sustained injuries in a blast targeting police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan.

According to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the country experienced 34 per cent increase in anti-state violence last month.

It revealed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emerged as the most affected province, documenting 51 attacks, causing 54 fatalities and 81 injuries.

Meanwhile, Balochistan recorded nine attacks, resulting in 18 fatalities, including that of 15 security forces personnel and three civilians.