Dhoke Syedan suicide blast: Toll rises to 19 as another dies of injuries

The Rawalpindi police have yet to make an arrest in the case.

RAWALPINDI:

A man injured in the suicide blast targeting a mourning procession in Rawalpindi on November 21 died at Benazir Bhutto Hospital on Thursday morning.

Azhar Hussain Shah was wounded in his abdomen by splinters from the blast and was being treated at the BBH. The doctors had successfully operated on him earlier to remove the splinters, said a doctor on duty.

However, his condition deteriorated late Wednesday night. The doctors administered him blood but could not save his life.

Shah’s death brings the death toll in the attack on the Dhoke Syedan procession to 19, said Superintendent of Police Potohar Division Haseeb Shah.

The police have not made any arrests in the case. According to SP Haseeb, a joint investigation team comprising personnel from different investigation agencies have been trying to trace the source of the attack.



Shah was buried late on Thursday evening in the graveyard near Qasar-e-Shabir in Dhoke Syedan after his funeral prayers were offered in the local imambargah.

The prayers were led by Allama Sajid Naqvi, a religious scholar and a Shia leader.

Talking to the media after the funeral, Naqvi demanded the formation of a judicial commission to analyse the security arrangements made during Muharram and the circumstances leading to the attack.

He alleged that the security agencies did not take risks to Muharram processions seriously, noting that volunteers from among the mourners had handed over more than 10 men with explosives to the security agencies.

In response to a question, the Shia leader said the incident did not smack of sectarianism and was a terrorist activity targeting a crowded place.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.