http://arabnews.com/world/article180790.ece
Teenage suicide bomber kills 60 in Pakistani mosque A man carries injured victim of a suicide bomb attack targeting Friday congregational prayers at a Mosque, after he was rushed to a local hospital in Peshawar, the capital of militancy-hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on Friday. (EPA) By AZHAR MASOOD | ARAB NEWS Published: Nov 5, 2010 15:25 Updated: Nov 5, 2010 18:51 PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: Scores of worshippers were killed after a teenage suicide bomber struck a mosque in northwest Pakistan during prayers Friday, officials said. The bombing was believed to have been targeted at an anti-Taleban activist. The explosion occurred in Darra Adam Khel, an area near Pakistan's tribal regions where Taleban-led militants have been active. Commissioner Kohat Khalid Omarzai said the explosion was so strong that it caused the roof Atari Mosque to collapse, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than a hundred others. "Anti-state elements have carried out attack on mosque. We were expecting such attacks because military operations by Frontier Corps and Pakistan Army are going on in Orakzai agency," Omarzai told reporters. Omarzai said "a young boy of hardly 17" was identified as the suicide bomber. "We are fighting 3rd world war. Peace in Afghanistan alone can bring peace in Pakistan," said Senior Minister Bahir Bilour of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa told journalists in Peshawar. "We cannot give up to a few militants." Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the brutal killing of innocent "Namazee" and denounced the militants for having no regard for any religion or creed. He added that they are "pursuing their own agenda which is based on self-centered ideas and dogmas." "They are surely the enemies of the state and the people," Geelani said in a press statement. He said the fight against these militants "will continue till their complete elimination." He appealed to the people to keep watch on such elements and help the government in its drive to root out this cancer form our society. Geelani also offered his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and prayed to grant them courage to bear this irreparable loss with courage and forbearance. The blast was the latest in a series of attacks at mosques and Sufi shrines in Pakistan, and underscored the relentless security challenge to a nation where militants have thrived despite US-supported army offensives against them. People in private vehicles rushed the wounded to hospitals in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest, TV footage showed. A woman was beating her head, while two elderly men in blood-soaked clothes lay in a hospital corridor. "The blast tossed me up. I fell down," said Mohammad Usman, 32, a schoolteacher with wounds on his head and arms as he lay on a hospital bed in Peshawar. "Later, it was just like a graveyard." Haji Razaq Khan, a member of Pakistan's Senate from Darra Adam Khel, says a tribal elder, who had been encouraging people to stand against the Taleban, had a guest room next to the mosque and may have been the target. It was not immediately clear whether that elder, Malik Wali Khan, was among the victims. Islamist militants have frequently targeted tribal leaders who have taken stands against them. At least 50 people died, while 80 others were wounded, said Shahid Ullah, a local official. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain called the militants "beasts" that are lashing out at Pakistan's crackdown against them. "This is part of international terrorism. America, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the main players, who need to work closely and more aggressively to root out this menace," said Hussain, whose only son was killed by militants earlier this year. Pakistan is in the midst of multiple offensives against Taleban and linked militants in its northwest, including the tribal areas that border Afghanistan. The US has praised the offensives, in hopes they will break the backs of at least some of the groups involved in attacks on American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. However, Pakistan has yet to mount an operation in North Waziristan, the tribal region where the most dangerous groups working against the US in Afghanistan have bases. In the meantime, the militants have staged attacks in major cities throughout Pakistan as well as smaller areas. In October, a bomb attack at a Sunni mosque on the outskirts of the main northwest city of Peshawar killed three people and wounded 22. It also occurred during Friday prayers. - with input from Associated Press [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
