Pakistan Bombing Kills at Least 50
Friday December 21, 2007 9:01 AM
By RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press Writer
SHERPAO, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide attacker detonated
a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails amid
hundreds of holiday worshippers Friday at the
residential compound of Pakistan's former interior
minister, killing at least 50 people and wounding over
100, authorities said.
It was the second suicide attack in eight months to
apparently target Aftab Khan Sherpao, who is running
in upcoming parliamentary elections. But although
election-related violence is common in Pakistan,
suspicion over the bombing will likely focus on the
pro-Taliban or al-Qaida militants active in the
northwestern region of the country where the attack
occurred.
The attack, which came during the Islamic holy day of
Eid al-Adha, created a scene of carnage at the mosque
at the politician's compound in Sherpao, a village 25
miles northeast of the city of Peshawar.
Bloodied clothes, hats, shoes and pieces of flesh were
strewn about the building. Witnesses said the dead
included police officers guarding Sherpao, who was
praying in the mosque's front row at the time of the
attack but not injured.
``We were saying prayers when this huge explosion
occurred,'' said Shaukat Ali, a 26-year-old survivor
whose white cloak and pants were torn and spattered
with blood. ``It almost blew out our ear drums. Then
it was it was like a scene from Doomsday.''
The bomber was praying in a row of worshippers when he
detonated the explosive, provincial police chief
Sharif Virk said. Hundreds of people were in or around
the mosque, about 40 yards from Sherpao's house,
witnesses said.
District mayor Farman Ali Khan said between 50 and 55
people were killed. Local police chief Feroz Shah said
over 100 were wounded.
The hospital scene in Peshawar was chaotic as the
injured arrived in pickup trucks, ambulance sirens
wailed and the wounded screamed for help. The injured
were also taken to hospitals in Charsadda and Tangi.
The bomb contained 13-17 pounds of explosives and was
filled with nails and ball bearings to maximize
casualties, said the head of the bomb unit at the
scene, who declined to give his name.
Shafiq Khan, a witness who went to the scene after the
blast, said Sherpao's youngest son, Mustafa, was
slightly wounded, while another son, former provincial
assembly member Sikander Sherpao, was not hurt. After
the blast, Sherpao's house was protected by about a
dozen armed police and paramilitary troops.
In a brief telephone interview with The Associated
Press, Sherpao said he was unhurt.
``Yes, I'm fine,'' he said.
Sherpao was interior minister - Pakistan's top
civilian security official - in the administration
recently dissolved ahead of January parliamentary
elections. He is head of the Pakistan Peoples
Party-Sherpao, and is running as a candidate for
parliament in next month's elections.
In April, Sherpao was slightly wounded when a suicide
bomber attacked a rally for his political party in the
nearby town of Charsadda, killing at least 28 people.
Islamic militants have repeatedly targeted top figures
in the government of President Pervez Musharraf, a key
ally in the U.S.-led war on terror.
Musharraf himself narrowly escaped assassination in
two bombings a few days apart in December 2003 in the
garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. At least
16 others died.
Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have extended their
influence over tracts of Pakistan's volatile northwest
in the past two years and in recent months have
launched numerous suicide attacks, usually targeting
security forces and their families.
The army says the most recent attacks could be
retaliation for a military operation against militants
in the Swat valley, where it claims to have killed
about 300 militants since last month.
Meanwhile, Pakistani police rearrested a prominent
opposition lawyer Friday, despite promises he would be
allowed to remain free for three days to celebrate the
holy day, his son said.
Aitzaz Ahsan was picked up before dawn as he traveled
on the road from the eastern city of Lahore to the
capital, Islamabad, his son Ali Aitzaz said.
``He has been put under house arrest again,'' he said
from the family home in Lahore.
Aitzaz Ahsan was at the forefront of protests
demanding Musharraf reinstate the Supreme Court's top
judge, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, and other
independent-minded justices that he sacked under a
state of emergency he imposed.
----
Sadaqat Jan contributed to this report from Islamabad, Pakistan.
---------------
Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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