Police secure the site after a suicide blast on a police station in the Mandan area on the outskirts of Bannu on September 26, 2009. A suicide bomber blew up a truck packed with explosives outside the police station in northwest Pakistan, killing five people and wounding 50 others, police said.— AFP Photo/Karik Ullah
PESHAWAR: Twenty people were killed and over 100 others injured on Saturday as suicide bombers blew up vehicles in Peshawar and Bannu. Security officials termed the strikes a part of the militants’ campaign to avenge the rout in Malakand.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Bannu strike, saying that the group had decided to resume ‘operations after lying low since the amir’s (its chief Baitullah Mehsud) death last month.’
The first attack took place in Bannu at 7am when a truck carrying ‘between 150 and 180 kilograms of explosives’ blew up outside a police station, killing 10 people and injuring 50.
The police station building was razed to the ground while several houses and shops were reduced to a pile of rubble. The blast left a 12 feet wide crater at the scene.
The second attack, hours later in Peshawar, tore through a crowded area housing banks, shops and a wedding hall on a road leading to the cantonment. The explosion left 10 people dead and at least 50 injured.
‘It was a car suicide blast and according to our estimate 100 kilograms of explosives were used,’ Shafqat Malik, bomb disposal squad chief, told reporters.
‘The suicide bomber sitting inside the car hurled a grenade and then he detonated himself and the car,’ Mr Malik said, describing the target as a branch of the Askari bank, managed by the Army Welfare Trust.
Blood stains and human flesh littered the place.
The blast also damaged electricity cables, causing a power breakdown lasting several hours.
The attack drove away shoppers and shopkeepers from the area, lending an air of desolation to the scene.
‘Militants’ revenge’
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a press conference that the two attacks were a part of the militants’ revenge campaign against the government.
‘The terror has been committed to pressure the government as it is planning Swat-like military operations in the tribal belt,’ the minister said. ‘But they (militants) will not be able to intimidate the government.’
The head of the bomb disposal unit told reporters that about 100 kilograms of explosive material, mixed with pellets, was planted in the car.
‘The bomber’s body blew into pieces due to high intensity of the explosives,’ he said.
The suicide bomber had also lobbed a hand grenade, but it failed to explode, he added.
Chassis and engine numbers of the car were also found at the scene.
Capital City Police Officer Liaquat Ali told journalists police had information that terrorists might strike in Ramazan and on Eidul Fitr, but they did not succeed due to tight security measures.
Police have arrested a number of suspects. Officials said that at least 45 cars and four motorcycles were damaged.
Shaukat Ali Mir, an employee of the Askari Commercial Bank, told Dawn that the bank had received several threatening calls over the past week, forcing it to restrict parking by placing a chain outside the building.
The banker said the blast shook the entire building, shattering windowpanes.
Another employee, Syed Khalid Ali, told Dawn that as his house was behind the RBS Bank, he rushed to the spot immediately.
‘Pieces of human flesh were scattered all over the place and people were screaming in pain.
‘Most of the people were wounded either by pellets or shards of windowpanes.’
Nazeer, a rent-a-car driver, said he was near the State Bank building when he heard the blast and within seconds a column of thick smoke descended on the vicinity.
Hayat Ali, a resident of Swat who suffered multiple injuries, told Dawn at the Lady ReadingHospital that he was returning to Swat from the Peshawar airport after seeing off his aunt when the terrorists struck.
Hospital sources said that of the dead, only Hameem Gul of Warsak Road, had been identified. He had come with his seven-year-old son to one of the banks which bore the brunt of the attack. The child received minor injuries.
In Bannu, District Police Officer Muhammad Iqbal Marwat said the truck had been laden with explosives weighing between 150 and 180 kilograms.
Sources said security personnel deployed at a check post near the police station signalled the truck, which was coming from the Hawaid Janikhel side at 7am, to stop. The driver disobeyed the order, forcing police to open fire at the vehicle.
But even then the truck managed to reach the police station, after which the driver detonated the explosives. Local people rushed to the place and assisted the Frontier Corps and police in retrieving bodies and the injured from the rubble. The victims and the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital.
Officials said that 10 people, including a suspect in custody, were killed and 58 others, 31 police and FC personnel among them, were wounded. At least 12 of the wounded were stated to be critical.
Taliban breathe fire
The outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Bannu attack and warned of more attacks across the country.
Qari Hussain, notorious for training suicide bombers, said: ‘Taliban claim responsibility for the attack on the police station in Bannu.’
He told Dawn by phone from an unknown place that it was a Taliban’s strategy to suspend activities after the assassination of Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack in South Waziristanon Aug 5.
‘We maintained silence after the assassination of Baitullah to see the government’s attitude towards the new leadership of Taliban,’ said Qari Hussain, introducing himself as personal spokesman for the new chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.
‘We have reached the conclusion that the government has not changed its mindset about Taliban. The government has a misperception about Taliban after the death of Baitullah and thinks we (Taliban) have weakened,’ he added.
‘We are united and have proved our might by attacking the police station,’ said Qari Hussain, warning people not to visit crowded bazaars.
