Sketches of suspected murderer, bomber released

Sketches of the suspected Pabbi suicide bomber(L) and suspected murderer of Mian Rashid(R). PHOTO: CORRESPONDENT

NOWSHERA: Nowshera Police on Tuesday released sketches of the suspected Pabbi suicide bomber and the murderer of Mian Rashid.

Rashid’s attacker was said to have come from eastern Afghanistan and believed to be in his late twenties, while the suicide bomber was said to be between 15 and 18 years of age and had blue-green eyes.

Security in major cities and towns was on high alert throughout the day with Frontier Constabulary personnel aiding the police personnel. Sources said that the interior ministry had decided to take action against DPO Nowshera Nisar Tanoli and two other officials. According to the sources, the ministry had warned the police of security threats and said that there was a possibility of a suicide attack but the police officials had failed to act in time.

Meanwhile, Mian Rashid’s Qul was offered on Tuesday. In his late twenties, Rashid was the only son of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain. He was shot dead outside his house on Saturday. At his soyem on Monday, a suicide bomber killed eight people and injured scores others.

“This is a war against humanity,” Hussain said at a press conference on Tuesday. “We do not expect anything from the militants but people aiding them should be stopped. So much blood has been spilt and now the very existence of our country is at stake. We must unite.”

Hussain, grief-stricken but still giving a tough outlook, reiterated his stance against the militants. “I had one son who was all I had. But I am not reacting [to his assassination]. I won’t give the militants the satisfaction…I don’t want them to think that they have hurt me,” he said.

A vocal critic of the militants, Hussain said that they were neither Pathans, Pakistanis nor Muslims. “I had received a number of threats previously but the Pashtun code does not allow even enemies to attack family members. The suicide bomber’s target was my family as two of my relatives have been killed in this attack. This clearly signifies their inhuman agenda,” he said.

Hussain said that during the Malakand Divison operation, [Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi chief] Sufi Muhammad had tried to escape with his daughter who was married to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Swat chief Mullah Fazlullah. “I was consulted when they were apprehended but those who are not militants should not be targeted,” he said. “The difference between the militants and us is that we are pacifists who denounce war and they want pain and bloodshed.”

Hussain said that what he had done was according to the charter of his party and was not a personal decision. “I have lost my son. He is a martyr. I am proud of him. But we must not forget that a number of families have faced the same situation as I am facing now. I may have lost a son, but now all Pakistani boys are my sons,” he said.

Asfandyar Wali Khan, president of the Awami National Party (ANP) to which Hussain belongs, also reiterated his party’s resolve to stand by its anti-militants policy. “Let me be very clear that the ANP will continue to pursue its (previous) policy. We will not back out of this war. We have to win this fight at all costs,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2010.