62 martyred as terrorists hit three cities
PARACHINAR/ QUETTA/ KARACHI:
Terrorism hit the country badly on Friday as at least 62 people were martyred in terrorist activities in three cities.
As many as 45 people were martyred and more than 100 sustained injuries, 25 of them critically, when two bomb blasts rocked Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of Kurram Agency, on Friday.
Government officials and local tribesmen said the first blast took place at Turi Bazar in the densely populated main city where hundreds of people were busy buying Iftar items and shopping for Eidul Fitr.
After the first blast, several people gathered for rescue work and the local tribesmen staged protest against the government and local administration and security authorities for their failure to protect the people against acts of terrorism.
At this stage the second explosion occurred.
"The second blast was devastating and took several human lives," said a government official, Wajid Hussain.
He said many people were busy shopping and others were passing through the bazaar when the second blast took place.
Member National Assembly from Kurram tribal region, Sajid Hussain Turi, said there were conflicting reports about the nature of the two blasts.
He said they were told by the local security officials that the first blast was caused by a hand-grenade and the second explosion was believed to be a suicide attack.
"Whatever the nature of these frequent blasts in Parachinar, we consider it a sheer failure of the government, local administration and security agencies. The terrorists succeed every time in their nefarious designs and take lives of the innocent people,” he said.
Sajid Hussain Turi said the two blasts were well-coordinated and the innocent tribespeople were targetted.
He said the terrorists chose a time when majority of the people had thronged the local market for shopping.
The
lawmaker feared that the death toll could rise as condition of around 25 injured was critical and some of them were shifted to Peshawar in army helicopters for better treatment.
“I don’t understand how the terrorists managed to enter Parachinar as there are several checkpoints manned by the law-enforcement agencies round-the-clock,” he pointed out.
As usual, there was little contribution of the local administration in the rescue work.
People shifted the injured themselves to the ill-equipped Agency Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar in private vehicles.
The 18-bed casualty ward of the hospital was too small for dealing with the emergency. The majority of the bodies and injured were lying on the ground due to lack of space and beds in the casualty department.
“The hospital administration claimed to have announced emergency in the hospital, but there were neither beds nor medicines for the injured,” complained one Abid Hussain, whose two relatives were martyred and three others were injured in the twin blasts.
Medical Superintendent Dr Sabir Hussain said they provided all the available services to victims of the blasts. “We utilised all available resources to save as many lives as possible,” he added.
Two Pakistan Army aviation helicopters were sent to Parachinar from Peshawar to fly the seriously wounded persons to the provincial capital for treatment.
Enraged by the second blast and killing of innocent people, hundreds of tribesmen gathered and staged a demonstration holding the government and law-enforcement agencies responsible for their losses.
They later went to the Parachinar Press Club, tortured the journalists, damaged the infrastructure of the club and broke cameras and other equipment of the reporters.
The protesting tribesmen accused the journalists of not reporting independently what had been happening in Parachinar. The army later fired shots into the air to disperse the protesters.
The protesters didn’t even spare Parachinar’s senior journalist, Ali Afzal Afzaal who lost one of his young nephews, Mujahid Afzal, in the bomb explosion. His other nephew was seriously injured in the blast.
Engineer Mujahid Afzal was sitting behind his brother Wajahat Afzal on their motorcycle and was returning home after shopping for Iftar when the blast took place. Mujahid Afzal was killed by the blast and Wajahat Afzal sustained injuries.
They were sons of Noor Afzal, the younger brother of journalist Ali Afzal Afzaal.
Parachinar, inhabited mostly by the Shias, has been repeatedly targetted by the terrorists. Its security was upgraded after every blast and roadside checkpoints were increased in number. However, it couldn’t be entirely secured.
The recent bomb explosions included one on March 31 this year that martyred 23 people and injured more than 70 others in the car bomb explosion near the Imambargah in Parachinar.
Earlier in January,
a bomb explosion rocked a vegetable market in Parachinar martyring 25 persons and injuring another 87.
The r
esponsibility for previous blasts in Kurram Agency has been claimed by Jamaatul Ahrar, TTP and other militant groups.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Toori Bazar, Parachinar and directed the concerned authorities to beef up security arrangements across the country.
“Terrorists are attacking soft targets and no Muslim can ever imagine to commit such horrific act,” the media cell of the Prime Minister said in a statement.
“Such acts of terrorism will be dealt with full power of the State,” the prime minister reiterated.
The prime minister, while expressing deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the attack, prayed for eternal peace for the departed souls and grant of courage to the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss.
The prime minister also prayed for swift recovery of those injured in the terrorist attacks.
In second incident, at least seven policeman among 13 people were martyred while 21 others sustained injuries in a blast on Gulistan Road area of Quetta.
According to DIG Quetta Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema, police personnel signaled a suspected vehicle for checking and the vehicle did not stop when powerful blast occurred near the Inspector General Police Office.
As a result, the bodies and the injured were shifted to Quetta Civil Hospital where an emergency has been declared.
The Sandeman provincial hospital spokesman Dr Wasim Baig said that seven policemen including Sajad Ali, Lal Khan, Ghani Khan, Faisal, Ghulam Shabir, Kashif and Naeem and civilians men Sajid Husain, Anwar, livestock Dr Abdul Rehman, passerby Sanaullah, Muhammad Ameen were martyred in the suicide blast.
He said that 21 people of injured where 17 injured were discharged after treatment while
four of them injured namely Rajan Shah, Rehmatullah, Jan Muhammad and Sarfarz
are being treated in serious condition.
DIG Operation said that law enforcement agencies and bomb disposal squad team were busy in collecting the proofs and examining the nature of the blast after the incident. He also said that security was beefed up in the city after the incident.
Meanwhile,President Mamnoon Hussain condemned the terrorist act in Quetta.
The president expressed his sympathies with the families of those who lost their lives and directed best possible medical facilities for the injured.
The president termed the act by the last remnants of terrorists and reiterated that the government would do its best to protect the lives and property of the people.
Pakistan People’s Party Chairman of Bilawal Bhutto Zardaria also condemned terrorists blasts in Quetta and Parachinar, claimed a number of lives and injuries to innocent people.
According to separate statements issued here on Friday, he said that those who killed innocent people have no religion.
He expressed sympathies with the families of victims in two blasts.
He said that steps should be taken to provide the injured with best medical treatments in hospitals.
Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani,and Deputy Chairman Senate Abdul Ghafoor Haideri condemned the bomb blast in Quetta.
In their separate statements, the Chairman Senate and Deputy Chairman Senate termed it an inhuman and shameful act of terrorism.
They said that the elements involved in such activities are enemies of the country and humanity.
They also prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the souls of martyred in eternal peace and sympathized with bereaved families.
Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafar ul Haq and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitezaz Ahsan also condemned the blast.
Majlis Wahdat e Muslimeen Spokesman Allama Mukhtar Imami Friday strongly condemned the acts of terrorism in Parachinar and Quetta and asked the prime minister to resign for his inability to fulfill his constitutional duty of safeguarding masses’ life and property.
In a statement issued here, Imami said MWM Secretary General Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jaffary announced that three-day mourning would be observed while protest rallies would be taken out Saturday across Pakistan to agitate innocent killings. He added at Eid congregations, prayers would be offered, wearing black armbands.
He lamented that, “under a well-planned strategy, our genocide was being carried out. For how long, will we remain silent on this barbarity”.
Meanwhile, PTI leaders, including Chairman Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Tareen, Shafqat Mehmood and Naeemul Haq have vehemently condemned the terror hits and said that through such cowardly acts, the resolve of the nation could not be shaken.
PTI leaders called for due care of those wounded in these incidents and that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had been issued instructions with regards to medical care of the injured victims of Parachinar attack.
Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Minister of State for ReligiousAffairs and Interfaith Harmony Pir Amin ul Hasanat also condemn the attack.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri has strongly condemned the incident of blast.
He directed the health departments to provide all medical facilities to the victims and ensure their treatment.
He prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage and fortitude to the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss.
In third terrorist attack, armed men gunned down four policemen in the SITE area who were deployed for security duty there. A banned organisation Ansarul Shariyah Pakistan (ASP) with Libyan connections has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mohammed Yousuf, Police Constables (PC) Shabbir, PC Khalid and PC Israr (driver) were martyred in the SITE-A police remit. The incident took place at the Iftar time near the Habib Bank Chowrangi, SITE.
Talking to The News, Raja Umer Khattab, chief of the Transnational Terrorist Intelligence Group (TTIG) of Counter Terrorism Department, Sindh, said that on Friday evening when police officials were taking Iftar near a hotel between Siemens and Habib Bank Chowrangi, two armed terrorists who were wearing trousers and shirts, and jackets over them, stopped near the officials and opened indiscriminate fire on them.
The terrorists, after hitting the officials, escaped but another motorcycle rider returned to throw the organisation’s pamphlet before fleeing. The injured officials were shifted to a hospital, then to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) where they were pronounced dead. The deceased officials received bullet wounds at their upper torsos, mostly heads, which became the cause of their deaths.
Khattab said that during a search, they had found 28 spent bullet shells of 9mm pistols which were confiscated and sent to a forensic laboratory of the Sindh Police for examination. He added that the officials were deployed for security duty on daily basis and it seems that the terrorists before carrying out the attack upon the officials had conducted recee of them and planned the attack.
He maintained that the pamphlet found from the spot
belonged to Ansarul Shariyah Pakistan (ASP), who had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Raja Umer Khattab said that the organisation had earlier targeted Colonel Naji and he had also suspicions that they had also killed law enforcers in the Dhoraji area.
He added that the terrorist organisation (ASP) was earlier reported in Libya where they had targeted the law enforcers, especially police officials, and were also involved in sectarian killings. The chief of TTIS said that they had developed CCTV footages of the incident and were trying to develop the sketch of terrorists involved in the attack. He said they had also upgraded security in Karachi as the terrorists might have some future targets, including those of sectarian nature. Further investigations are underway.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Zulfikar Larik of West Range has suspended the Station House Officer (SHO) Rana Maqsood of the SITE-A Police Station.
Cheers
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