SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007
11:10 MECCA TIME, 8:10 GMT
Pakistan hunts for bombing clues
Sherpao had been warned of revenge attacks
against him [AFP]
Pakistani authorities have arrested a man over a
suicide attack at a mosque on Friday that killed at
least 50 people.
Police on Saturday picked up the suspect in Charsadda,
the same district where a suicide bomber detonated
around 10kg of explosives amid a packed 1,000-strong
congregation celebrating the festival of Eid.
"We're looking for another man who could be a second
accomplice," a security official said.
Reports said four people, including three Afghan
nationals, were arrested late on Friday in a town four
kilometres from the site of the attack.
But it was unclear if the detentions at a religious
school in the North West Front province were related
to the blast.
Friday's bombing, apparently targeting Aftab Khan
Sherpao, the former interior minister, was the second
such attack on him in eight months.
No strong leads
Sharif Virk, the provincial police chief, said that so
far forensic evidence at the site of the blast was
insufficient to give up any strong leads.
"No head has been found from the scene," he said,
referring to the fact that the heads of suicide
bombers are often blown off by the force of the
explosions and later found intact.
In Video
Eid celebrations marred by blast
"We have found four legs which we have sent for DNA
test, but it could be little help unless we know the
family."
Virk said the attack could be linked to armed groups
in the adjacent Mohmand tribal region.
The attack sparked anger and fears of further attacks
should Pakistani forces crackdown on tribal fighters.
Fawad Khan, relative of a blast victim, said: "Why did
these people, the government, spoil the situation in
Swat, Bajaur and the Red Mosque? Now that they have
done so, naturally even those people the militants are
going to retaliate."
Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan,
said: "It was widely expected that there would be
attacks against Aftab Khan Sherpao ... he had been
warned there would be revenge attacks."
Besides being blamed for a security crackdown on armed
tribal groups, many hold Sherpao personally
responsible for the assault on a hardline mosque in
Islamabad in July.
Condemnation
Shortly after the bombing, Robert Gates, the US
defence secretary, said that al-Qaeda had "re-grouped"
along the Afghan-Pakistan border and begun to focus
attacks on the Pakistani government and military,
Suspicion for the blast was expected to focus on
pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters active in the North
West Frontier Province.
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, condemned the
blast and directed security and intelligence agencies
to track down the masterminds, the state-run
Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Scores of civilians were also injured in
the attack [Reuters]
The UN and US also condemned the attack.
Sean McCormack, a US state department spokesman, said:
"Violence for political gain is never justified, and
is even more disturbing during such a special holiday
in the Islamic faith."
Tariq Azeem Khan, a Pakistani senator, told Al
Jazeera: "I think that this is a direct fallout from
what is happening in Afghanistan and our own position
on the war on terror.
He said more such attacks may be a possibility in the
run-up to elections.
Imtiaz Gul, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that
the message from the attack was "that all those people
associated with the war on terror, the policy makers,
the decision makers, and those who are involved in the
implementation, they are the obvious targets of the
militants".
"Only political dialogue with the militant forces or
these who support these forces perhaps could bring
about any change and contain these attacks."
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
---------------
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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