Published: March 10, 2011
A man stands next to sandals at the site of the suicide bomb attack in Adezai, on the outskirts of Peshawar on March 9, 2011. PHOTO: REUTERS
At least 37 people were killed and 52 injured when a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body during funeral prayers at Adezai village on the outskirts of Peshawar on Wednesday, police and hospital sources said.
Locals said that the attack came in the Sheikh Neka Baba graveyard two kilometres north of Adezai, as locals were offering funeral prayers for a woman related to the head of an anti-Taliban lashkar, or militia.
Medics at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) said that 36 dead and 52 injured had been brought to the facility and 10 of the wounded were in serious condition. Sources later said that the death toll had risen to 37.
Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told reporters at the scene that it was a suicide attack targeting the militia. He said that militants had been attacking these villages with conventional forces before. Now, after the militia had managed to beat them away, they were sending suicide bombers.
“There were police and lashkar volunteers around to protect this gathering,” he said, adding that the attacker was not a local and they would investigate how he managed to get there.
Bomb Disposal Unit officials said that six to eight kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. He said that the bomber was also carrying hand grenades to maximise the casualties.
Haji Dilawar Khan, who heads the Adezai lashkar, told The Express Tribune that at least 37 people belonging to the village had perished in the bombing and at least 500 people were taking part in the funeral prayers.
The site was littered with human limbs and bloodied shoes, caps and shawls.
Eyewitness Akhtar Nawaz, who was standing in the third row, told The Express Tribune that funeral prayers were about to start when the bomber, who appeared to be in his early thirties and had a beard, arrived at the scene.
He said that the locals gave him time to join the prayers and after the prayer leader had said the first takbeer, there was a loud “Allah-o-Akbar” and all present fell to the ground.
“When I stood up again, there were bodies strewn all around,” he said.
Anwar, another local, said that he heard a loud “Allah-o-Akbar”, followed by a blast. “Then there was smoke and blood all around,” he said.
The dead woman was identified as the wife of Wakeel, maternal cousin of Dilawar Khan, the militia chief. Wakeel’s brother Abdul Kalam is among the senior figures in the militia.
Adezai village is situated some 25 kilometres south of the provincial capital, close to Peshawar’s border with the Darra Adamkhel tribal region. It has been at war with militants since August 2007, when villagers formed a militia on the insistence of the government after a police patrol was attacked in the village.
In November 2009, the first head of the village militia, Haji Abdul Malik, and 30 others were killed in a suicide attack.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2011.
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Suicide blast in Adezai kills 24By AFP / Express
Published: March 9, 2011
Injured moved to hospitals in Peshawar.
A suicide blast reportedly killed 24 people and injured 50 others, in the Adezai area of Matni, located 25km north of Peshawar city, on Wednesday.
According to Express 24/7 correspondent Umar Farooq, authorities confirmed the explosion took place during the funeral of the wife of Kala Khan, a member of the peace committee.
DCO Peshawar informed that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber.
According to an eye witness the suicide bomber was wearing a shawl and carried out the attack while the funeral prayer was underway. The witness also said that no security was present at the time of the blast.
Farooq reported that around 150 people belonging to the peace militia were present at the site at the time of the blast.
MPA Bashir Ahmed Bilour arrived at the site of the incident and said that these attacks are not related to Islam but are rather a reaction to operations taking place in other areas in the region.
The injured were shifted to hospitals, including Lady Reading Hospital, in Peshawar in Rescue 1122 ambulances as well as private vehicles, while the police, the army and FC personnel cordoned off the area.
This is not the first time a blast of such nature has taken place in the area. Farooq reports that this is the fifth major blast of its kind.
Similar attacks have taken place in the past. Earlier an attack that targeted Haji Abdul Malik had resulted in killing 47 died, while last year the secretary of the peace committee was also targeted in an IED explosion last year.
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Car bomb kills 25, injures over 100 By Ijaz Ansari
Published: March 9, 2011
Rescue workers remove the body of a victim at the bomb blast site in Faisalabad. A bomb planted by suspected militants exploded at a filling station, killing at least 25 people and wounding 130 others. PHOTO: AFP
FAISALABAD:
A car bomb exploded at a CNG station situated in front of an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) office in Faisalabad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 130 others on Tuesday, officials said.
Many of those hurt were trapped for hours under debris or hit by shrapnel after the blast reduced the station building to rubble, with rescue workers heaving away stones and metal to pull survivors.
The gas station owned by a former DIG was flattened in the blast that occurred at 10:19 am, while a nearby office of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was badly damaged.
“The rescue work is almost over. Most casualties were recovered from the debris of the PIA building and gas station,” said Adnan Khalil, the official in charge of the rescue effort.
Police and hospital officials confirmed that 22 bodies had been received. More than 35 vehicles were destroyed in the blast that created a 10-foot deep crater at the site. Four people are said to have lost their lives as they were buried alive under the debris. A security guard at the CNG station and an ISI official were also among the injured.
CPO Faisalabad Dr Usman said that about 150 kilogrammes of explosive material was used in a silver-coloured Mehran. It is said that terrorists wanted to target the nearby ISI building.
A six-member team of the Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW) of the Federal Investigation Agency collected samples of explosive material from the crime scene and sent them to Islamabad for analysis. The CTW officials said that the blast was caused by a remote device and created a crater 4 to 4.5 feet deep and 10 to 12 feet wide.
Witness Ijaz Hussain told reporters at the site that he heard and felt a loud blast before chaos ensued.
“It was a deafening blast – I thought the ground had been jolted by an earthquake. Everybody was running here and there to save their lives. I saw injured people and bodies scattered here and there,” said Hussain.
“I was on way to my office after parking my office car at the gas station,” a PIA driver, Mohammad Safdar, 42, told AFP from his hospital bed where he was being treated for leg injuries. “Suddenly there was a huge blast and I felt somebody threw me away. I was brought to the hospital unconscious.”
Television pictures showed the station had been reduced to a pile of bricks and gnarled metal as rescue officials worked to remove rubble from the scene to search for survivors, and ambulance vehicles ferried the injured away.
Senior administration official Zaheer Anwar said that by the evening there was no-one left trapped under rubble.
In addition to the offices of two intelligence agencies, there are military offices in the area as well.A hand grenade was found near the place of the incident which was allegedly hurled at the building of the intelligence agency but it could not explode. The bomb disposal squad defused it.
Who is responsible?
Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimed responsibility, telling Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location the attack was in retaliation for the killing of one of their commanders in the city. He was referring to the killing of a senior Pakistani Taliban member in a shoot-out with police in Faisalabad last year.
The Express Tribune has learnt that an intelligence agency believes that the Fedayeen-i-Islam, an alliance of Punjabi Taliban group headed by Rana Afzal alias Noor Khan was behind the bombing.
The intelligence agency reported last week that Azfal and accomplices had paid frequent visits to Faisalabad recently and were possibly planning to attack police offices or the offices of other security agencies.
Afzal is originally from Kabeerwala but now reportedly lives in Waziristan. The Fedayeen-i-Islam is made up of six militant organisations, led by Illyas Kashmiri, Asmat Maaviya group, Qari Zafar, Rana Afzal, Qari Hussain and Commander Tariq.
With additional input from Asad Kharal in Lahore and agencies
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2011.
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Car-bomb kills 17 at Pakistani filling station08 Mar 2011 07:23
Source: reuters // Reuters
ISLAMABAD, March 8 (Reuters) - A car-bomb at a compressed natural gas filling station in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad on Tuesday killed 17 people and wounded scores, police and city officials said.
The blast set off gas cylinders at the station and the explosion destroyed or severely damaged nearby buildings and numerous vehicles.
"An explosive-laden car was parked at the CNG station," Aftab Cheema, head of Faisalabad police, told reporters.
Many vehicles in Pakistan run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Senior city administration official Naseem Sadiq said 17 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded.
There was no claim of responsibility but the government is battling various militant factions including al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistan has seen a wave of bombs in the past three years, many in the northwest near the border with Afghanistan, where the military is battling the Taliban insurgents.
The army says that several military offensives over the past two years have weakened the militants but bomb attacks are still common. (Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Robert Birsel) (E-mail: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Islamabad newsroom: +92 51 281 0017)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)
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Faisalabad: Explosion outside security agency, 20 dead, 100 injured
Faisalabad: Explosion outside security agency, 20 dead, 100 injured An explosion outside a security agency in the civil lines area in Faisalabad left 20 dead and100 injured. A nearby CNG station, three buildings and 10 cars have been destroyed by the explosion.
According to the police 20 people have been confirmed dead and 100 have been injured. The police surrounded the area after the explosion as rescue teams arrived at the scene. The intensity of the explosion was such that a nearby CNG station, ten cars and three building were completely destroyed and efforts to remove the rubble of the buildings are underway.
On the other hand, DCO Naseem Sadiq said that the explosion occurred when a car filled with explosive materials exploded. The police have also arrested an injured suspicious man from the area.
Faisalabad Commissioner Tahir Hussain confirmed the number of fatalities and said the explosion was not a terrorist attack.
Emergency has been declared in all the hospitals in Faisalabad. The number of fatalities is expected to rise.
It was a deafening blast — I thought the ground had been jolted by an earthquake. Everybody was running here and there to save his life. I saw injured people and dead bodies scattered here and there,” said an eyewitness.
Television pictures showed the station had been reduced to a pile of bricks and gnarled metal as rescue officials worked to remove rubble from the scene to search for survivors and ambulance vehicles ferried the injured away.
An administration official at the scene, Liaqat Chatta, told AFP by telephone that the entire station building collapsed and many vehicles there were completely destroyed.
“Five other buildings close to the station were also badly damaged and part of the buildings collapsed. The rescue operation is still continuing and we are searching for people trapped in the rubble,” he said.
City commissioner Tahir Husain told a private television channel that rescue officials were heaving bricks and metal away with cranes and other machinery. Husain told a private TV channel that no suicide attacker was involved.
“It was not a suicide attack. It was a planted bomb blast. The bomb exploded near the gas cylinders that triggered a bigger blast,” he said.
Husain said that the attack may have been aimed at government buildings close to the filling station, which sold compressed natural gas for vehicles, adding that some of the buildings were damaged in the blast.
Emergency has been declared at all hospitals while the injured have been shifted to Allied and Civil hospitals. Police, fire brigade and Rescue 1122 staff reached the spot and began rescue operations.
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Blast in Faisalabad CNG station, 20 dead
By AFP / Express / Reuters
Published: March 8, 2011
Screen capture of rescue teams carrying out operations.
FAISALABAD: At least 20 people were killed and 127 wounded in a bomb attack on a gas station in Faisalabad on Tuesday, police said, warning that the toll could rise further as many were critically injured.
“The death toll has now been risen to 20. 127 people were injured in this blast. We fear the death toll may rise because the condition of some of the injured is very critical,” said Aftab Cheema, regional police chief in Faisalabad.
The blast set off gas cylinders at the station and the explosion destroyed or severely damaged nearby buildings and numerous vehicles.
“An explosive-laden car was parked at the CNG station,” Aftab Cheema, head of Faisalabad police, told reporters.
Speaking to Express 24/7, DCO Faisalabad Naseem Sadiq said that the incident was a terrorist attack although it is yet to be confirmed what material was used in the attack. ”We are starting excavation operations to extract the injured from the rubble,” said Sadiq.
Speaking to Express 24/7, RPO of Faisalabad Aftab Cheema also said the explosion was indeed a terrorist attack.
According to Express 24/7 correspondent Ejaz Hussain initial speculations had attributed the blast to an explosion in the boiler at the CNG station. Ejaz reports that the area where the CNG station is situated is a very sensitive location as the station is surrounded by ISI and military offices.
Television footage showed immense damage. Hussain reported that a PIA building and an ISI building in the area were damaged. The nature of the explosion has not yet been ascertained.
Emergency has been declared at all hospitals while the injured have been shifted to Allied and Civil hospitals. Police, fire brigade and Rescue 1122 staff have reached the spot and rescue operations are underway.
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