Muhammad Ejaz Khan
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Thursday, September 08, 2011
QUETTA: Twenty-seven people, including a colonel of the Frontier Corps (FC), were killed and 73 wounded, some of them seriously, in two consecutive suicide bomb explosions on the Inscomb Road in the provincial capital on Wednesday morning.
The defunct Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the bombing. The suicide bombers arrived on the site of the blasts driving an explosive-laden Pajero jeep. The first attacker rammed the jeep into the DIG FC's escort vehicle at around 8:45am. The vehicle was parked outside the DIG House on the Inscomb Road in front of the Quetta commissioner's office.
The second suicide bomber, who barged into the house, detonated his explosive jacket inside the house of DIG FC, Brig Farrukh Shehzad. Brig Farrukh and his wife sustained multiple injuries. His wife succumbed to her injuries on her way to hospital, while the DIG was admitted to the CMH for treatment.
The first explosion was so powerful that it was heard in the radius of several kilometres across the Quetta city. The residence of the DIG FC is close to government buildings and official residencies, and official residencies, including the governor, chief minister secretariats, chief secretary and IG police houses. Due to the explosions, windowpanes of nearly all these buildings were smashed.
Soon after the blasts, people were seen running in panic in search of safety, eyewitnesses said. The explosions were so powerful that the DIG House was badly damaged and its boundary wall collapsed. Moreover, the first explosion created a three-feet-deep ditch outside the house.
One jeep, three auto rickshaws and four motorcycles were badly damaged and caught fire due to the powerful explosion. There was a thick cloud of smoke hovering over Inscomb Road. Fire fighters who reached on the spot soon after the incident extinguished the fire.
The flesh and limbs of some of the deceased were scattered on the spot and injured were seen crying in pain. Edhi's ambulances reached the spot and shifted the injured to Civil Hospital and Combined Military Hospital for medical treatment. Emergency was declared in the hospitals soon after the explosions.
Ten deceased who belonged to the FC were identified as Col Khalid Masood, Havaldar Rasheed, Lance Naik Malik Sher, Ashiq Hussain, Sabz Ali, Sepoy Tariq, Ziaullah, Imtiaz Ahmed, Muhammad Hanif, and an unknown. The names of others are yet to be confirmed.
Hospital sources confirmed that 18 people breathed their last on the spot, while six others succumbed to their injuries in hospital or on their way there. The conditions of some of the injured are stated to be precarious, hospital sources told The News.
Moving scenes were witnessed at the blast site and hospitals where dozens of relatives of the deceased and injured thronged to identify their dear ones.
Police and administration reached the spot to supervise the rescue operation. The FC cordoned off the area as officials of the bomb disposal examined the explosive material used. The vehicle was loaded with 100 kg of explosive material, said officials of the bomb disposal squad, adding that ball bearings of medium size had been used in the explosions, resulting in maximum casualties.
Conspicuously, it seemed to be a security lapse; this is a VIP road but there was no security surveillance or patrolling of the police or other officials to monitor such incidences. On the other hand CCTV cameras of the commissioner office were all off at the time.
In the double suicidal attacks, "one of the bombers was identified as Ahmed Gul s/o Saeed Gul as his Afghan refugee card showed that he belonged to Kunduz province of Afghanistan," said DIG police Hamid Shakil while talking to journalists on the spot.
Police had constituted an investigation team headed by DIG Police investigation Nazir Kurd to probe the matter.
Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani visited the site of the explosions and strongly condemned the attacks. The governor expressed his deep concern over poor security arrangements in the area, while the chief minister directed that they be made effective.
Following the suicide bomb explosions, Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani chaired a law and order meeting and directed the concerned authorities to adopt measures to beef up security in the provincial capital. He also directed to install CCTV cameras at all the sensitive places of the city in addition to making an effective security arrangement at all the exit and entry points of the city.
Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: The Hakimullah Mahsud-Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibly for the twin suicide attacks in Quetta and said it was revenge for the killing of five foreigners, allegedly gunned down by the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) on May 17 at Kharotabad near Quetta.
The TTP spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said called this correspondent from an undisclosed location and said they had sent two suicide bombers to target senior FC officials, particularly Col Faisal Shahzad, who he claimed, had ordered the shooting of the five foreigners. On May 17, the police, FC and Levies in a joint action killed five Chechen nationals, including three women and two men at a checkpoint at Kharotabad near Quetta and declared them terrorists.
The TTP spokesman said the five foreigners were unarmed when FC personnel opened fire at them and killed them mercilessly. Ihsanullah claimed Col Faisal Shahzad, whom he held responsible for the killing of Chechen nationals, was the prime target of the two suicide bombers. He rejected reports that said the two deadly attacks could be a reaction of the arrest of senior al-Qaeda leader Younas al-Mouritani by Pakistani security agencies in Quetta.
APP adds: DIG Operations Hamid Shakeel said: "First blast occurred at 8:58 am and the second after a gap of five minutes in the Civil Lines area of the city." Three security men who had been waiting in an official vehicle to escort the deputy inspector-general to work were burnt alive as a result of attack.
The head and legs of the alleged suicide bomber were evacuated to the morgue of the civil hospital and later sent to the laboratory for the forensic report.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the twin bomb blasts. The president said the government was determined to root out extremism and terrorism from the country and would not be deterred by such acts of terror. He directed the provincial authorities for an immediate probe into the incident and to track down those who planned and executed the attack. He also asked them to provide best possible care to those injured in the attack.
The prime minister in a message from Astana, Kazakhstan, where he has gone on a two-day official visit, expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the deaths in the blasts. He expressed his government's resolve to continue with its efforts to eliminate extremism and terrorism from the country.
The president and prime minister also condoled with the families of those who lost their loved ones and prayed to Allah Almighty to bless them and grant them courage to bear their loss with equanimity.
The US Embassy in Islamabad also condemned the terror attacks. The embassy said in a statement, "Nothing can justify immoral and indiscriminate attacks against innocents, including Pakistan's security forces."
The embassy further said, "We extend condolences to the families and friends of the victims and salute Pakistan's brave security forces who put their lives on the line to protect their country. "We stand with the people of Pakistan as they work for a future free of the violence and destruction wrought by al-Qaida and associated groups," said the statement.
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