Botched bombing: Failed attacker buried in H-11

A mosque security guard died while stopping the would-be suicide bomber.

ISLAMABAD:

The body of a failed suicide bomber who was shot dead at Bhara Kahu on Eid day was buried in the H-11 graveyard on Tuesday.

The police also suggested that the attacker’s family did not respond when asked to collect the body, leaving them with no option but to bury it in Islamabad.

The bomber was shot dead by mosque guard Amin Hussain as he tried to enter an imambargah in Bhara Kahu shortly after Friday prayers on the first day of Eid. Hussain had been shot and fatally wounded before he killed the attacker.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Tanveer Malik, a medico-legal officer at Polyclinic Hospital, said the body of Zakaullah — said to be in his mid thirties — had been kept in the hospital’s mortuary since August 9 — the day of the incident. His body was collected by Bhara Kahu Sub-Inspector (SI) Malik Arshad.

“The police were unsure whether to bury the body or hand it over to his family, so we initially stored it in the mortuary,” he said.

He said the postmortem report showed that the would-be suicide bomber had three bullet injuries.

The fatal shot hit him in the head, while the other bullet wounds were in his back.

The deceased also had burn injuries on his right arm and chest, said Malik.

SI Arshad said that they contacted the attacker’s family and asked them to take his body, but received no response. “Therefore, the police temporarily buried it in the H-11 graveyard”.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2013.