Vicious violence: 21 killed in bomb and suicide attacks

Remote-controlled bomb kills 11 in Quetta; 10 die in suicide attack on police armoured vehicle in Peshawar.

QUETTA/ PESHAWAR:

After a brief lull, deadly violence came back to haunt Pakistanis on Friday. At least 21 people – mostly civilians – were killed and nearly 100 wounded in bomb and suicide attacks targeting law enforcers in the northwest and southwest of the country.

A bomb was remotely detonated in downtown Quetta minutes after vehicles carrying paramilitary troops drove past. Police confirmed that at least 11 people, including a woman and a child, were killed and around 42 others wounded in the attack that took place in front of Science College on Jinnah Road.

“The victims included nine civilians and two Balochistan Constabulary personnel. A passenger bus, two auto-rickshaws and four cars were destroyed in the blast,” Quetta’s Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Abdul Razzaq Cheema told The Express Tribune. According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, the explosive device weighed eight to ten kilogrammes.

“It was an improvised explosive device (IED) strapped to a bicycle which was parked near an electricity pylon,” an investigator told The Express Tribune. “The bomb went off two minutes after vehicles carrying paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) troops passed by the area,” he added. “Apparently, these vehicles were the target.”

Since the bombing took place near Zarghoon Road, where Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat workers were staging a large gathering, some officials speculated that the party might have been the target. Investigators, however, dispelled such speculations.

Jinnah Road is a hub of businesses, shopping areas and restaurants. A passenger bus and several private vehicles were travelling on the road when the blast occurred. “We struggled to pull out the body of a rickshaw driver from his burning tri-wheeler,” a rescuer said, adding that the rickshaw was gutted and five passengers on board were burnt to death.

The explosion was heard five to 10 kilometres from the bombsite and the windowpanes of several shops and buildings, including Science College’s, were shattered due to its impact. “The floor shook as we heard the blast and as we got closer to Science College, we saw people crying and others lying in pools of blood,” said a local resident, Muhammad Shahid.

The casualties were driven to the Provincial Sandeman Hospital, Civil Hospital and Combined Military Hospital. Medics at the Sandeman Hospital confirmed that they have received 10 bodies and more than 25 injured. One of them expired during the course of treatment.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast that took place after more than a month of relative calm in the provincial capital.

Over in Peshawar, a suicide bomber targeted a police armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the Bata Tal area, on the edge on the city. At least 10 people – including two women – were killed and 45 others wounded in the attack.

The APC was parked at a gasoline station in a crowded marketplace, hardly a few metres away from Khyber Agency on Bara Road.

“Eight policemen were on board the APC – but all of them survived with minor injuries,” SSP Operation Najeebur Rehman Bagvi told The Express Tribune. All the casualties were passers-by or shoppers at the market. They were ferried to the Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital where medics confirmed the death toll.

Khan Muhammad, a resident of Bara, recalled the deadly explosion. “A thick cloud of smoke and dust covered the area for nearly 15 minutes after the blast.” Fearing a second attack, police opened indiscriminate fire before cordoning off the area. “The firing made the rescue operation very difficult,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan central spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid disowned the blast, saying that none of their members or the groups associated with them were involved. Talking to journalists from an undisclosed location in Miranshah, he said the TTP was committed to the ceasefire.

Separately, an official of the Sarband police station to which the APC belonged said that some of his colleagues were constantly receiving threats from the Lashker-e-Islam militant group. “Sub-inspector Bukhari Shah was in charge of the targeted APC. He had survived another militant attack in the Mattani area last year so he was most likely the target,” he said.

AIG Special Branch Shafqat Malik, who also heads the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), said the bomber carried at least eight kilogrammes of high explosives in his suicide vest.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2014.