Battagram suicide attack: Eight killed in suicide attack before PML-Q leader’s arrival
Party’s provincial chief was to address 300 party workers who had already gathered.
BATTAGRAM/PESHAWAR:
At least eight people were killed and 26 others wounded, six of them seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the main Battagram bazaar on Monday, some 300 feet from the venue where PML-Q provincial chief Ameer Muqam was due to address a public meeting.
The police had cordoned off the venue from all sides and erected a walkthrough gate to screen participants. Half an hour before Ameer Muqam was expected, 300 party workers had gathered in the bazaar while a round-faced bearded teenager, sporting long hair, walked briskly towards the venue, according to eyewitnesses and police sources. “He looked like a terrorist and we cried out that he was a suicide bomber,” said Khaesta Khan, a young man who witnessed the incident. Hazrat Ali Shah, a traffic constable, deployed for reinforcement in addition to the regular police, cautioned him to stop. Shah ran after the boy to overpower him, but he warned him to stay away in Pushto. The suicide bomber pulled the lever just as Shah reached him, killing five persons on the spot and injuring 28 others. The dead included two women, two police constables and an infant, said police and hospital sources. Police constable Abdullah said the bomber blew himself up before he could shoot him.
Two of the wounded succumbed to their injuries minutes after reaching the hospital. District Police Officer Ghulam Hussain said the bomber was 15 to 18 years of age. In addition to the six to eight kilogrammes of explosives strapped to his body, he was carrying two hand grenades and a pistol. The bomber wanted to target the public gathering and he would have killed scores of participants if Shah had not intercepted him, according to ASI Arshad Khan. Most of the dead and injured were passers-by.
Amir Muqam however expressed resolve to fight against anti-state elements, in his interaction with the media. He said that deteriorating law and order and corruption are indicative of the fact that the ANP government is doomed. He also announced Rs50,000 each for the families of the deceased and Rs20,000 for the wounded. He condemned the attack and declared that if the police were to provide the public 10 per cent of the security offered to VIPs, hundreds of lives could be saved. He addressed the gathering on schedule.
The police claimed to have recovered a portion of the bomber’s head including his jaws and his legs which were sent for DNA tests. No group has so far claimed the responsibility of the blast which took place at 10.20 in the morning.
MPA Taj Muhammad Tarand of the ANP condemned the incident and attributed it to a conspiracy to destroy peace in the relatively safe district. He said the provincial government would pay compensation to the martyrs’ families. Except the militants’ attack on the Thakot Bridge police post two years ago, no such incident has taken place in Battagram, he claimed, while talking to The Express Tribune Former district nazim Battagram, Shamsur Rehman, also condemned the suicide attack. He said the target was Amir Muqam since he has escaped attempts on his life in the past.
In November, 2007, a suicide bomber had tried to enter Muqam’s house in Hayatabad and had blown himself up when he was stopped by security personnel. Four persons including his cousin and former MPA Pir Mohammad Khan were killed in the attack.
This was second attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after a brief lull in the spate of violence that ensued after the Abbottabad raid by US Navy SEALs which killed Osama Bin Laden. On Sunday, two policemen were killed and 10 others were injured when an IED targeted their vehicle in Mir Kochori.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2011.
At least eight people were killed and 26 others wounded, six of them seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the main Battagram bazaar on Monday, some 300 feet from the venue where PML-Q provincial chief Ameer Muqam was due to address a public meeting.
The police had cordoned off the venue from all sides and erected a walkthrough gate to screen participants. Half an hour before Ameer Muqam was expected, 300 party workers had gathered in the bazaar while a round-faced bearded teenager, sporting long hair, walked briskly towards the venue, according to eyewitnesses and police sources. “He looked like a terrorist and we cried out that he was a suicide bomber,” said Khaesta Khan, a young man who witnessed the incident. Hazrat Ali Shah, a traffic constable, deployed for reinforcement in addition to the regular police, cautioned him to stop. Shah ran after the boy to overpower him, but he warned him to stay away in Pushto. The suicide bomber pulled the lever just as Shah reached him, killing five persons on the spot and injuring 28 others. The dead included two women, two police constables and an infant, said police and hospital sources. Police constable Abdullah said the bomber blew himself up before he could shoot him.
Two of the wounded succumbed to their injuries minutes after reaching the hospital. District Police Officer Ghulam Hussain said the bomber was 15 to 18 years of age. In addition to the six to eight kilogrammes of explosives strapped to his body, he was carrying two hand grenades and a pistol. The bomber wanted to target the public gathering and he would have killed scores of participants if Shah had not intercepted him, according to ASI Arshad Khan. Most of the dead and injured were passers-by.
Amir Muqam however expressed resolve to fight against anti-state elements, in his interaction with the media. He said that deteriorating law and order and corruption are indicative of the fact that the ANP government is doomed. He also announced Rs50,000 each for the families of the deceased and Rs20,000 for the wounded. He condemned the attack and declared that if the police were to provide the public 10 per cent of the security offered to VIPs, hundreds of lives could be saved. He addressed the gathering on schedule.
The police claimed to have recovered a portion of the bomber’s head including his jaws and his legs which were sent for DNA tests. No group has so far claimed the responsibility of the blast which took place at 10.20 in the morning.
MPA Taj Muhammad Tarand of the ANP condemned the incident and attributed it to a conspiracy to destroy peace in the relatively safe district. He said the provincial government would pay compensation to the martyrs’ families. Except the militants’ attack on the Thakot Bridge police post two years ago, no such incident has taken place in Battagram, he claimed, while talking to The Express Tribune Former district nazim Battagram, Shamsur Rehman, also condemned the suicide attack. He said the target was Amir Muqam since he has escaped attempts on his life in the past.
In November, 2007, a suicide bomber had tried to enter Muqam’s house in Hayatabad and had blown himself up when he was stopped by security personnel. Four persons including his cousin and former MPA Pir Mohammad Khan were killed in the attack.
This was second attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after a brief lull in the spate of violence that ensued after the Abbottabad raid by US Navy SEALs which killed Osama Bin Laden. On Sunday, two policemen were killed and 10 others were injured when an IED targeted their vehicle in Mir Kochori.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2011.