Fleeing bomber kills 4 women in Peshawar

Mourners gathered in a house lose life and limb.

PESHAWAR:

Four women were killed and four others were injured when a suicide bomber tried to escape arrest in Garhi Esa Khan in Peshawar district on Monday.

The bomber and his three accomplices were about to target the funeral prayers of an anti-Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) tribesman, Haji Jan Muhammad, who had died a day earlier. When the people of tribe saw the four suspicious men, they intercepted and questioned them. The attackers tried to escape, but one of them, the suicide bomber, exploded himself inside a house where a gathering of women and children was being held, said a Chamkani police station official.

Three women were killed instantly, while four other women and one child were injured who were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). One woman succumbed to her injuries after battling for life for about an hour.

“We have found legs and other body parts of the bomber and around six kilogrammes of high explosives coupled with ball bearings that were used in the vest,” AIG Special Branch Shafqat Malik told The Express Tribune.

One of the accomplices managed to flee but two of them were caught by tribesmen, who were handed over to the police.

Eyewitness Badam Gul said that a Khatam-e-Quran was taking place in their house when the explosion took place. “The bomber exploded himself five feet from the main door of the house,” he recalled. Two of his sisters, one aunt and a neighbour were killed in the blast.

The victims were identified as Shah Haram, Sheeba, Taj Bibi and Dil Ara.

They were all at the Khatam-e-Quran being held at the funeral of Haji Jan Muhammad. He was said to be an ardent supporter of the Lashkar-e-Islam but parted ways due to differences.

He, then, joined Ansarul Islam led by Mufti Mehboobul Haq.

“Ever since he joined Ansarul Islam, LI was after him and one of his nephews, Dr Rafiq, was kidnapped and killed by the group five years ago,” Stana Gul, an Ansarul Islam member, told The Express Tribune.

“Jan Muhammad lost around six family members in this struggle, including those killed in skirmishes in the Tirah valley,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2014.