Bomber targets ex-MNA in Wana
At least 30 people, among them a prominent cleric and former legislator, were killed and 40 more wounded.
PESHAWAR:
At least 30 people, among them a prominent cleric and former legislator, were killed and 40 more wounded in a deadly suicide bombing at a mosque in the South Waziristan tribal region on Monday – a day when 10 more people were killed in other violence elsewhere in the volatile tribal belt.
It was the first significant suicide attack since August 4 and comes with the country battling to cope with the fallout of devastating floods that have swamped a fifth of the country and hit 20 million people.
The attack targeting Maulana Noor Muhammad Wazir, a former lawmaker from the Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), took place in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency.
Maulana Noor Muhammad was greeting members of the congregation outside Masjid Darul Uloom Waziristan after prayers when a teenage bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body, tribal sources told The Express Tribune.
Official sources confirmed that 30 people were killed and 40 more injured in the bombing. Syed Noor, a nephew of the cleric, confirmed the death of his uncle.
The death toll may rise as a health official in a paramilitary hospital in Wana said the condition of most of the wounded was critical. “We have received 14 injured but their condition is very critical,” the official told AFP requesting anonymity.
Thick fumes enveloped the site after the bombing and local residents shifted the casualties to hospitals. The blast flattened the mosque, where Maulana Noor Muhammad used to teach the Quran after midday prayers. Several nearby buildings were also destroyed or damaged. Political authorities say around 20 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. Maulana Noor Muhammad Wazir was an influential figure who had several times acted as a negotiator between the Taliban and the government, but was opposed to the presence of Uzbek militants, providing support to dislodge them.
He was running several Islamic seminaries in the Waziristan region. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1997 as an independent candidate and later joined the JUI-F. Masjid Darul Uloom Waziristan, a historic mosque in South Waziristan, was set up in 1964.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack but according to local residents tensions have been running high between Wazir and Mehsud tribesmen in South Waziristan since long. And a few days back militants loyal to Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud and pro-government Waziri militant Mauvli Nazir had clashed in Wana.
On December 30, 2009, security forces had raided a private hospital, owned by Maulana Noor Muhammad, in Wana where foreign militants were reportedly being treated. Four foreigners – two Arabs, one Turkmen and one Sudanese – and two local tribesmen were killed in the raid.
It was the first suicide attack in South Waziristan since security forces cleared the agency in a military offensive, codenamed ‘Operation Rah-e-Nijat’ in October last year.
Elsewhere in the tribal belt, a landmine blast killed seven people as tribal elders met in Khumas village, Kurram Agency, on Monday, Syed Musaddiq Shah, an official in the political administration told AFP. It was not immediately clear whether the blast was an intended attack or whether the mine had exploded accidentally.
Another official said seven people were injured in the blast, which occurred during a jirga between two tribes over a dispute about an office boy’s job at a public school built on common land.
Separately, three legionnaires of an anti-Taliban tribal legion were killed and 11 more wounded in a bomb attack on the outskirts of Peshawar on Monday evening. The attack took place in Adezai village, 25 kilometres southeast of the provincial capital and close to the border of semi-tribal Darra Adamkhel region.
“A vehicle carrying the volunteers was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb while travelling back from Mattani Bazaar,” chief of the Adezai Lashkar Dilawar Khan told The Express Tribune by phone. Three volunteers were killed and two more wounded in the attack, he added. Khan blamed the attack on Taliban insurgents.
The Adezai Lashkar was raised by former councillor Abdul Malik in 2008, and ever since it has been on the forefront of the fight against militancy. (With additional input from AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2010.
At least 30 people, among them a prominent cleric and former legislator, were killed and 40 more wounded in a deadly suicide bombing at a mosque in the South Waziristan tribal region on Monday – a day when 10 more people were killed in other violence elsewhere in the volatile tribal belt.
It was the first significant suicide attack since August 4 and comes with the country battling to cope with the fallout of devastating floods that have swamped a fifth of the country and hit 20 million people.
The attack targeting Maulana Noor Muhammad Wazir, a former lawmaker from the Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), took place in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency.
Maulana Noor Muhammad was greeting members of the congregation outside Masjid Darul Uloom Waziristan after prayers when a teenage bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body, tribal sources told The Express Tribune.
Official sources confirmed that 30 people were killed and 40 more injured in the bombing. Syed Noor, a nephew of the cleric, confirmed the death of his uncle.
The death toll may rise as a health official in a paramilitary hospital in Wana said the condition of most of the wounded was critical. “We have received 14 injured but their condition is very critical,” the official told AFP requesting anonymity.
Thick fumes enveloped the site after the bombing and local residents shifted the casualties to hospitals. The blast flattened the mosque, where Maulana Noor Muhammad used to teach the Quran after midday prayers. Several nearby buildings were also destroyed or damaged. Political authorities say around 20 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. Maulana Noor Muhammad Wazir was an influential figure who had several times acted as a negotiator between the Taliban and the government, but was opposed to the presence of Uzbek militants, providing support to dislodge them.
He was running several Islamic seminaries in the Waziristan region. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1997 as an independent candidate and later joined the JUI-F. Masjid Darul Uloom Waziristan, a historic mosque in South Waziristan, was set up in 1964.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack but according to local residents tensions have been running high between Wazir and Mehsud tribesmen in South Waziristan since long. And a few days back militants loyal to Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud and pro-government Waziri militant Mauvli Nazir had clashed in Wana.
On December 30, 2009, security forces had raided a private hospital, owned by Maulana Noor Muhammad, in Wana where foreign militants were reportedly being treated. Four foreigners – two Arabs, one Turkmen and one Sudanese – and two local tribesmen were killed in the raid.
It was the first suicide attack in South Waziristan since security forces cleared the agency in a military offensive, codenamed ‘Operation Rah-e-Nijat’ in October last year.
Elsewhere in the tribal belt, a landmine blast killed seven people as tribal elders met in Khumas village, Kurram Agency, on Monday, Syed Musaddiq Shah, an official in the political administration told AFP. It was not immediately clear whether the blast was an intended attack or whether the mine had exploded accidentally.
Another official said seven people were injured in the blast, which occurred during a jirga between two tribes over a dispute about an office boy’s job at a public school built on common land.
Separately, three legionnaires of an anti-Taliban tribal legion were killed and 11 more wounded in a bomb attack on the outskirts of Peshawar on Monday evening. The attack took place in Adezai village, 25 kilometres southeast of the provincial capital and close to the border of semi-tribal Darra Adamkhel region.
“A vehicle carrying the volunteers was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb while travelling back from Mattani Bazaar,” chief of the Adezai Lashkar Dilawar Khan told The Express Tribune by phone. Three volunteers were killed and two more wounded in the attack, he added. Khan blamed the attack on Taliban insurgents.
The Adezai Lashkar was raised by former councillor Abdul Malik in 2008, and ever since it has been on the forefront of the fight against militancy. (With additional input from AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2010.