Kohat blast: Police release sketch of suicide bomber

Police sources say that the bomber was between 16 and 17 years.

PESHAWAR: Kohat police on Thursday issued a sketch of the suicide bomber who killed at least 18 people in Wednesday’s attack at a bus stand.

Police sources said that the bomber was between 16 and 17 years. Earlier, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Information Minister Mian Iftikhar had said that the bomber was 14 years old.

Meanwhile, the Kohat City police station also registered an FIR for the bombing at Arakhel bus stand at Tirah Bazaar area of Kohat district.

The funeral prayers of those killed in this attack were offered in their native towns. Most of those killed belonged to Orakzai Agency.

The dead were identified as Ali Hassan, Janan Ali, Raza Ali, Hussain Ali, Zakat Ali, Syed Gul, Ali Mohammad, Sehar Ali, Shian Ali, Abdul Aziz, Syed Mir Imam, Maqsad Ali, Mir Khed Ali, Bakht Jamal, Javed Ali and Shireena Bibi who were residents of different parts of Kalaya area in Orakzai Agency. However, the residence of two of those dead – Tilawat Hussain and Saqib Ali – could not be ascertained.

Hospital sources said that most of those who sustained injuries in the blast have been discharged from hospital after initial treatment.

The blast had targeted a Hiace van bound for Arakhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency at a bus stand in Tirah Bazaar of Kohat district. Kohat district, a southern district of K-P, has also come under attack in the past and is a sensitive area due to sectarian violence around Kurrum and Orakzai agencies and Hangu district.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.