TTP accused of Nowshera shrine blast
Assailants leave bomb near entrance as security measures prevent luggage inside building.
NOWSHERA:
Two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) activists have been accused of the bomb blast at a shrine in Nowshera, which killed four people and injured another 24 on Sunday.
The FIRs against Qari Aqeel and Haroon were registered at the Cantt police on Monday.
After the remote-controlled bomb blast, which occurred on the second day of Eid, rescue efforts were conducted by locals who helped people out of the rubble before rescue teams arrived. Locals also took the injured to nearby health units in their private vehicles.
Most of the wounded, including women and children, were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) of the area. Six of those critically injured were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar.
According to Nowshera Cantt DSP Riaz Khan, the bomb was hidden in a polythene bag filled with fruits and exploded at the shrine’s main gate. The Bomb Disposal Unit later confirmed that a total of five kilogrammes of explosives was used.
Police said that visitors were directed to leave their luggage at the entrance of the shrine making it impossible for the assailants to take the bomb inside the building without being noticed. They further said that the explosion occurred around 1:30pm when a number of devotees were present inside the building.
Three people, Ismail, Khalid and Taj, were killed on the spot, while another person, who could not be identified, died during treatment at the LRH.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2012.
Two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) activists have been accused of the bomb blast at a shrine in Nowshera, which killed four people and injured another 24 on Sunday.
The FIRs against Qari Aqeel and Haroon were registered at the Cantt police on Monday.
After the remote-controlled bomb blast, which occurred on the second day of Eid, rescue efforts were conducted by locals who helped people out of the rubble before rescue teams arrived. Locals also took the injured to nearby health units in their private vehicles.
Most of the wounded, including women and children, were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) of the area. Six of those critically injured were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar.
According to Nowshera Cantt DSP Riaz Khan, the bomb was hidden in a polythene bag filled with fruits and exploded at the shrine’s main gate. The Bomb Disposal Unit later confirmed that a total of five kilogrammes of explosives was used.
Police said that visitors were directed to leave their luggage at the entrance of the shrine making it impossible for the assailants to take the bomb inside the building without being noticed. They further said that the explosion occurred around 1:30pm when a number of devotees were present inside the building.
Three people, Ismail, Khalid and Taj, were killed on the spot, while another person, who could not be identified, died during treatment at the LRH.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2012.