One rickshaw, one motorcycle, two cars and four shops were destroyed in the blast. PHOTO: EXPRESS/MOHAMMAD NOMAN
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for Friday night’s twin bombings in a residential neighbourhood of the metropolitan city. At least six people were killed around 50 wounded when back-to-back blasts tore through a row of shops and a restaurant in Ancholi Society.
TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement that the blasts were in response to the Ashura day violence in Rawalpindi. He threatened more attacks if the perpetrators of the Rawalpindi violence were not brought to justice and drone strikes were not stopped.
Ancholi Road, the site of the blasts, has dozens of restaurants, tea stalls and paan shops. Normally, it’s crowded with shoppers, especially young people, in the night. Luckily, on Friday night, however, most local youngsters were watching a cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa.
“Thanks God, most of the people were at home watching the T-20 match,” said shopkeeper Amanat Ali. “Had there been no match, there would have been more casualties.”
Death toll
Officially, the death toll stands at six. Around 47 injured were shifted to Aga Khan Hospital from Abbasi Shaheed Hospital – four of them are said to have life-threatening wounds. Ten were later discharged after treatment.
“Six people have lost their lives,” DIG West Javed Odho told The Express Tribune. “Civilians were the target,” he added. Odho said investigators will interrogate suspects who were rounded up, including the TTP militants, arrested over the Abbas Town bombing to get to the perpetrators of Friday night’s blasts.
The families of the victims mourned together. Among the victims was 39-year-old Rizwan, an accountant at a private firm, who left his home to buy bread for breakfast but died in one of the blasts. “These attacks have proved that Sunni and Shia are not enemies of each other,” Rizwan’s brother, Izhar, told The Express Tribune. “I think we should thank the terrorists as they helped us [both communities] to come closer to each other.”
Zargham Abbas, 24, had returned from Saudi Arabia to observe Muharram in his hometown. He died as he rushed to the second blast site to help the victims. “I believe he embraced martyrdom because he sacrificed his own life to save others,” Zarkham’s cousin Imran Ali told The Express Tribune. “For him, there was no distinction between the two communities.”
Investigations
Police have detained the owners of two motorcycles used in the bombings and initiated investigations. Initially, explosives experts believe both were timed devices based on the mangled cellphones they found on the blast sites. However, on Saturday they said both bombs were remotely detonated.
Sectarian harmony
At a joint press conference, Sunni and Shia religious leaders, including Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi, the central spokesperson of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), Allama Qazi Ahmed Noorani and Maulana Shaukat Mughal said it was high time the PML-N government dispelled the impression that perpetrators of such terrorists enjoyed the government’s patronage.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2013.
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