Wrecking havoc: Bannu blast injures five, including khasadar

Four pedestrians injured in attack meant to target khasadar convoy.

BANNU: Five people, including a khasadar official, were injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle detonated near their vehicle in a crowded market of Bannu on Thursday morning.

“The bomb was planted on a motorcycle and was meant to target khasadars, however, four pedestrians were injured in the explosion,” said DSP City police Inayat Ali Shah.

Shah said the explosion occurred around 9:45am when the khasadars had come to Bannu city for shopping from Frontier Region Bannu. When their vehicle was passing through the bazaar, a motorcycle parked by unidentified militants with a bomb strapped to it was detonated via remote control. Shah said five people were severely injured in the blast, one of whom was khasadar Mushtaq Ali. Along with the four passers-by, Ali was taken to District Headquarters Hospital, Bannu.

Shah said heavy contingents of police moved to the blast site, condoned off the area and called in the bomb disposal unit to collect evidence.

The injured khasadar, Mushtaq, said he was buying groceries near a bank when the explosion occurred. He added that when he opened his eyes, he found himself on a stretcher in the hospital with his uniform torn from the sides and soaked in blood.

More than a dozen shops were also partially damaged in the explosion. Bashir Khan, who runs an electronics shop in the market, said he was taking a nap when the attack happened. Most of his appliances, including juicers, irons and kettles fell to the ground and the light bulb in his shop shattered.

A cloth dealer, Sadam Hussain, said cracks had appeared in the wall of his shop from the impact of the explosion. Hussain added that the shelves on his walls broke off and his fan fell from the ceiling, injuring his foot. He said none of the shops in the market had been completely destroyed and said they had expressed the resolve to reconstruct the structures themselves.

SHO City police Hameed Khan said they launched a search operation in the area after the explosion, however, no arrests had been made till the filing of this report. A case was filed against unidentified militants and an investigation is under way.

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