Grenade attack: One killed, 41 injured in Bannu

Victim alleges his rivals from the Musa Khel tribe behind the attack.

BANNU:

A three-month-old child was killed and 41 people were injured when unidentified assailants hurled a hand grenade in a house during an engagement ceremony in Jangi Qilla, Bannu on Friday.

The owner of the house, Malik Liaqat Ali Khan, told The Express Tribune that he was in his guest house when he heard the explosion. He said he rushed to where the blast occured and saw young girls screaming in pain. Around 41 people, mostly women and children of his family, were injured in the explosion.

Khan blamed his rivals from the Musa Khel tribe for the attack. “Ten years ago they hurled a hand grenade at me amidst the same rivalry,” he said, “But this time they targeted innocent children and women.” Some of the injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), while 10 of them were taken to a private hospital in Bannu.

Malik’s 13-year-old niece, Farishta, said she and her friends were dancing in the lawn when a metal object fell in the middle of a circle of women. “We thought it was a toy at first,” Farishta said, “Everyone was crying and then I lost consciousness.” When she woke up, she found herself on the way to the hospital.

Dr Ismail at DHQ said that 16 children and 14 adults, nine of them women, who brought in, were later discharged after first aid. However, three-month-old Ujala and two women, Zartaja Bibi and Mirtaja Bibi, sustained severe injuries. Ujala passed away in the hospital at 3am. The two women were reported to be in stable conditions.

Domail police SHO Latifullah said that it was the first incident of a tribal feud involving a hand grenade in the area. Malik filed a report against three brothers Hayatullah, Wali Muhammad and Raisham Khan, of the Musa Khel tribe. “We raided two houses of the accused but they escaped,” SHO Latifullah said, adding hand grenades were commonly used in such cases as they allowed assailants an  easy escape after the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2012.