Mohmand carnage: Suspect linked to blast may have been identified

Interior ministry spokesperson cautions against reaching any conclusions as yet

ISLAMABAD: One of the suspects involved in the Mohmand Agency blast may have been identified but it is still too early to jump to any conclusions as yet, an interior ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

The spokesperson said that the identification was made on the basis of evidence collected from the site. However, he hastened to add that it was too early to conclusively determine whether the same suspect was involved in the blast or not.

Security agencies are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident, the spokesperson added.

At least 36 people lost their lives and several others were left wounded on Friday when a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in Anbar tehsil of Mohmand Agency.

The bombing took place in the village of Butmaina in a tribal agency district bordering Afghanistan.



On the directives of the interior minister, the National Database and Registration Authority routinely collects evidence from any bombing site in order to identify any suspect linked to an act of terror. In such instances NADRA officials visit the site and collect evidence from suspicious bodies. Usually, fingerprints are taken to match with the authority’s database to establish the identity of a suspect.

In some cases, local police may also seek NADRA’s help through the interior ministry to confirm the identity of any suspicious person.

Over the past few months, there has been an upsurge in violent attacks claiming the lives of dozens of people.

On September 2, at least 14 people were killed and over 50 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a court in Mardan. The suicide blast which was later claimed by Jamaatul Ahrar had targeted members of the legal community.

On August 8 an attack on the lawyers in Quetta had killed at least 73 persons while the same group had also accepted the responsibility for it. Extremist groups have been routinely attacking soft targets such as schools, universities, mosques in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2016.