Senseless violence: Suicide attack at Mardan funeral kills 27

Independent MPA Imran Khan Mohmand among the dead; nearly 60 injured.

SHERGARH: With their appetite for destruction growing, the perpetrators of senseless violence are finding bolder and fiercer means to tame the new governments installed at the centre and provinces.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew himself amidst hundreds of mourners at a funeral in Mardan district, killing at least 26 people – among them a provincial lawmaker – and injuring dozens more.

The attack in Shergarh town came 72 hours after a pair of coordinated terrorist attacks in Quetta and Ziarat, and a fortnight after a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker, Farid Khan, was killed in a targeted attack in Hangu district.

The fresh upsurge in violence highlights the security challenges facing the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which has offered to make peace with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – a banned umbrella of militant groups blamed for most violence in the country.

“Apparently, Imran Khan Mohmand, an independent legislator in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, was the target,” SSP (Investigations) Tahir Ayub said. “At least 27 people were killed and close to 60 others wounded in the blast,” he added.

DIG Jafar Khan confirmed that it was a suicide attack. Body parts of the suspected bomber have been sent for a DNA test, he told journalists. SSP Ayub added that from the features one could assume that the bomber was an Uzbek national. He was carrying seven to eight kilogrammes of explosives in his suicide vest.

The bombing took place around 4pm at Zargaranoo Kallay, in Ittehad Colony, when around 800 mourners gathered to offer funeral prayers for Haji Abdullah Khan, the owner of a gasoline station. Khan was shot dead over a property dispute Monday night.

The injured included Mohmand’s brother Malik Aman and a former JUI-F lawmaker, Maulana Qasim. Qasim was treated for his minor injuries at a local hospital, while other casualties were driven to the Tehsil Headquarters Takht Bhai, Mardan Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

“At least 15 of the injured are in a critical condition,” an official of the district administration told The Express Tribune.

Former provincial minister for food and excise Fazal Rabbani Advocate, who also attended the funeral, said that the bomber walked up to MPA Mohmand and blew himself up minutes after the funeral prayers ended.

Another eyewitness recalled the grisly scenes at the blast site. “A cloud of smoke and dust covered the whole area following the blast. When the dust cleared, I saw body parts lying all around and blood splattered everywhere,” the witness said. “Some of the victims were crying for help.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. MPA Mohmand’s younger brother Faheem said they had no family feud nor had they received any threats in the past.

Provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai denounced the bombing as a cowardly act and announced Rs0.3 million compensation for the dead and Rs0.1 million each for the injured.

Imran Khan Mohmand was elected to the K-P Assembly from PK-27 as an independent candidate in the May 11 elections. He is the second provincial legislator to have been killed in targeted attacks this month. On June 3, PTI lawmaker Farid Khan was shot dead by gunmen in Hangu.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2013.

Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly quoted the compensation sum announced for relatives of the dead and the injured. The error is regretted.