Fateh Jang bombing: Two colonels among five dead in suicide attack

Teenaged bomber targets a patrol vehicle; Taliban claim responsibility.

MIRAMSHAH/ RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD:

Five people, including two senior army officers, were killed and as many were injured when a suicide bomber targeted a vehicle belonging to a defence ministry agency in Attock district on Wednesday. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack that took place near a railway crossing in Fateh Jang tehsil of Attock, some 25 kilometres from Islamabad.

According to the police, the vehicle was on routine patrol when the attack took place. “Two military officers Col Muhammad Zahir and Col Arshad Hussain and three civilians died when a suicide bomber hit their twin cabin near Tarnol,” Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), confirmed in a post on microblogging website Twitter.

2 military offrs & 3 civilians embraced Shahadat when a suicide bomber hit their twin cabin near Tarnol. Shaheeds;Col Zahir Shah &Col Arshad

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) June 4, 2014

The civilian victims were identified as Muhammad Saleem, a rickshaw driver, and Gul Saleem and Noor Saleem, both real brothers who were travelling in the tri-wheeler.

A security official said the suicide bomber appeared to be 17 to 19 years old. “The bomber was hiding in the bushes near the railway crossing. He jumped out and detonated his suicide vest as the vehicle slowed down before crossing the tracks,” an eyewitness told The Express Tribune.



A heavy contingent of army, police and other law enforcers reached the bombsite as rescuers shifted the casualties to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Fateh Jang, where the injured were said to be in critical condition. In the meantime, investigators and explosives experts gathered forensic evidence at the site. Funeral prayers for Col Zahir and Col Hussain were offered at the Chaklala garrison later in the day and were attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Rashad Mehmood, according to an ISPR statement. The bodies were later sent to their ancestral towns for burial with full military honours, the statement added.

The prime minister condemned the attack, describing it as ‘shameful and cowardly act’. Offering condolences to the bereaved families, he made it clear that ‘such cowardly acts’ could not weaken the government’s resolve. “The whole nation acknowledges the sacrifices being rendered by our armed forces for the sake of the country. We express solidarity with them at this critical juncture,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari also denounced the suicide attack. Paying tributes to the security forces, he said the people of Pakistan will never succumb to militants.

TTP claims responsibility

The deadly attack, which broke a relatively long lull in Taliban violence, came days after the TTP split into two groups, limiting the government’s chances of finding a negotiated settlement to end the decade-long insurgency.

TTP central spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Express Tribune from an undisclosed location. “This is revenge for the killing of seven Taliban members in Karachi recently and the bombardment by fighter jets of innocent people in the tribal areas,” he added. Military warplanes and helicopter gunships had strafed suspected hideouts of militants in North Waziristan Agency late last months, killing nearly 80 militants. However, local tribesmen and Taliban claimed that several civilians also died in the blitz.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2014.