An unfulfilled future: Away from home, violence catches up to haunt tribesmen

Nine Mohmand Agency migrants were victims of Wednesday’s attack in Islamabad.

GHALLANAI:

Having moved to Islamabad from other parts of the country with dreams of a better life, the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack in a vegetable market had no idea theirs would be cut short so abruptly.

Over two dozen people lost their lives while over a hundred others were injured in the capital when a powerful remote-controlled bomb ripped through the crowded fruit and vegetable market at around 8am. Many casualties included those who had come to Islamabad from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to either escape the violence, or for a better livelihood. Nine among the victims were from Mohmand Agency – four of whom did not survive to narrate the horrific ordeal.

Sawab Khan, 24, and Tila Muhammad Khan, 30, hailed from Mohmand’s Khwaizai tehsil. Both died when the explosive device, which was planted inside a box of guavas, went off. Two other young men from Safi area of the agency met with a similar fate.

Sawab Khan had migrated from Mohmand Agency two months ago and leaves behind two children. His friend, Jahangir Khan, said the deceased left his village to escape militancy.

Fruit wholesaler and father of six, Tila Muhammad Khan, was also killed. Unlike Sawab, Tila had been working in Islamabad for the last 10 years. Standing by the body of his deceased brother in Shabqadar hospital on Wednesday, Zar Muhammad Khan told The Express Tribune about the family fruit business. Tila was not the only casualty in Zar Muhammad’s family. His other brother, Zabihullah, was also injured in the attack.

Khayal Badshah, a relative of Till, traveled to the capital from Mohmand Agency to inquire about hundreds of people who had migrated from his area that could have been injured in the tragic incident. After discovering the two brothers, Tila and Zabullah, were killed and injured, respectively, he feared he may know many others who were hurt in the attack.

Soon after he discovered that 24-year-old Javed Khan and 20-year-old Taj Wali Khan from Safi tehsil were also among the dead. Both men were poor vendors who had moved to Islamabad in hopes of a better future. According to a book seller from their village, Lal Rahman, many young men leave Safi tehsil to find work elsewhere because the area has little to offer in terms of income. He said that both men were the only source of income for their respective families.

Four others from Safi and one man from Khwaizai were injured in the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2014.