Source: AP
By Sadaqat Jan
Investigators on Monday examined the site of a suicide blast that targeted police in the nation’s capital as officials sorted out clues about the alleged attacker.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion that left at least 15 people dead and dozens wounded. It appeared to be the capital’s deadliest suicide attack in about a year.
The blast, which occurred at an intersection near a police station, unnerved the usually tranquil city. It took place the same day that thousands of Islamists marked the one-year anniversary of a military siege on the nearby radical Red Mosque.
Politicians, including President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani decried the attack, one of many in Pakistan that have victimized security forces.
“This is against humanity,” Gilani told reporters Monday after visiting some of the victims at an Islamabad hospital. “The law will take the culprits in its grip.”
Asif Ali Zardari, head of the main ruling party, insisted the attack “would only strengthen the resolve of the government to confront the militants and extremists head on.” But the attack also promised to raise more concern about government moves to strike peace deals with militants.
Hours after the blast, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told Geo TV that a teenage boy was the suspected attacker, though earlier he said it was a man apparently in his 30s.
“All witnesses say that a 15- or 16-year-old boy, who had a light beard and wore a white (traditional dress) … came walking toward our police and blasted himself,” Malik said.
There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties. Police spokesman Naeem Iqbal on Sunday placed the death toll at 15, most apparently police. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan listed 17 people as dying, including two civilians. It also reported 54 people wounded.
The morning after the blast about a dozen investigators milled about the scene, some poking around the grass with sticks, others looking at police gear still scattered on the ground. Barbed wire, yellow tape and metal roadblocks sectioned off the area.
Musharraf urged resilience following the blast.
“The crisis we are going through at this time, it is so serious that if we do not control ourselves, it can get even more serious and perhaps we then not be able to control it then,” said the embattled president, whose alliance with the U.S. in the war on terror has been blamed by many in Pakistan for fueling violence in their country.
It was not clear if the attack was linked to the conference held Sunday to remember last year’s eight-day standoff at the mosque. A mosque official condemned the assault.
Sunday’s blast was eerily reminiscent of a suicide attack that killed 13 people and wounded 71 on July 27, 2007 — the day the Red Mosque first reopened after the military siege. That explosion was at a restaurant crowded with police guarding the reopening of the mosque, and several of those killed were officers.
The attack Sunday also came after recent threats of revenge from Pakistani Taliban leaders angered by a paramilitary operation against insurgents in Khyber tribal area in the northwest.
Levels of violence have fallen in Pakistan since last year, but attacks still occur in the country as resentment continues in many corners against the country’s partnership with the U.S. in the war on terror.
A new government that came to power following February elections has sought to end militancy in Pakistan primarily through peace deals with extremists. That approach has earned criticism from U.S. officials, who say the deals will simply give time for pro-Taliban militants to regroup and intensify attacks on foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
However, the government shifted from its strategy in late June, as militants in Pakistan’s northwest increasingly began threatening the key city of Peshawar. The government launched a paramilitary operation in Khyber to flush out the extremists.
That operation has now been halted while officials try to negotiate peace through tribal elders, but Pakistani Taliban leaders have vowed revenge for the government’s show of force.
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Tags: alleged attacker, Investigators, Police, suicide blast
1 response so far ↓
1 Ilyas khan Baloch // Jul 8, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Dear Sir/Madam,
“A netted conspiracy to trap the nation for destruction and chaos”, in the name of war against terrorism, what happened to patriotic people and the sons of the soil, Do we deserve to become mute, deaf and blind in these critical moments…..?
It is really easy to understand why, the Pakistani have been left at a distance from the corridors of power so that the ruling elite can do what they wanted to do in favour of their own interests, leaving the Pakistani people at the mercy of circumstances. As this policy is a denial of the right of Pakistani people to rule their own country according to their aspirations and desires - a country which can provide equal opportunity to all without any discrimination, leading to establishment of a welfare society. They did not allow to develop the culture of real democracy in Pakistan , but cultivate the feudal democracy which can protect the interest of external forces at the cost of national interest. Only a society based on tolerance, equality and justice can be the real guarantee for a prosperous and strong Pakistan, therefore we must raise our voices and express our concerns at this crucial moment in Pakistan’s history – to do otherwise would lead to a disaster, a point of no return for our beloved country.
However the cause of concern is, as disclosed by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, in his Global Research, on 30th December 2007,mention that; “It has been known for months that the Bush-Cheney administration and its allies have been maneuvering to strengthen their political control of Pakistan, paving the way for the expansion and deepening of the “war on terrorism” across the region.
He continue that, “One can expect that Washington will push for a compliant political leadership, with no commitment to the national interest”, a leadership which will serve US imperial interests, while concurrently contributing under the weakening of the government and the fracture of Pakistan’s fragile federal structure. The political impasse is deliberate. It is part of an evolving US foreign policy agenda, which favors disruption and disarray in the structures of the Pakistani State
According to William Arkin, Washington Post, December 2007, The US has several military bases in Pakistan. It controls the country’s air space. According to a recent report: “U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units” Under this umbrella they are promoting terrorism in the country, to achieve their goal.USA, also control our nuclear arsenal.
The official justification and pretext for an increased military presence in Pakistan is to extend the “war on terrorism”. Washington is also beefing up its covert support to the “terrorists” in different part of Pakistan. The Balkanization of Pakistan: Already started in 2005, a report by the US National Intelligence Council and the CIA forecast - According to the NIC-CIA, Pakistan is slated to become a “failed state” by 2015, as it like fate, for Pakistan “in a decade with the country raven by civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries.”
At present they (US/NATO) are fighting their war of military/political interest in the region, involving the dependent country like Pakistan, under intimidation of sever consequences to bear, if refuse to support them; The current demand draft of 11 points, submitted by the so-called democratic imperialistic state of USA is a clear sign to a sovereign government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to accept and obey as matter of master’s voice. This act is a kind of intimidation and direct involvement in the internal matter of a sovereign state. This act create a question as if we are really a sovereign state or part and parcel of the USA,
They (USA & Allies) are supporting and covering separatist in different providence in Pakistan, of their interest such as Baluchistan, and covering the terrorist net ,working to promote the agenda of USA in FATA.They want Pakistan to fight and kill his own people under one ploy or another, and want to drag Pakistani society in to the chaos and uncertainty, so that they can further impose more condition on the Pakistani Government to follow them, dip and dip until armed forces of Pakistan loose the trust of the Pakistani people and come openly to fight against his own people like they did in east -Pakistan, this is the movement they (USA) are waiting for, so that their, in time financial help to the traitor can play the role to disintegrate the strength of the nuclear country.
The main purpose of USA and its allies after this destruction is to grab vast Oil and gas resources within Baluchistan along with mineral resources of this region along with large part of its coastal line, which could be life line for our future development. The real intention is to break the strength of Nuclear Pakistan and grab the influence in the region according to planning by USA, so that they can penetrate in the internal matter of other sovereign nation in the region as and when they wanted to. This is a moment invite us all for serious consideration weather to keep our independence and united country or to let the enemy of the country to destabilize Pakistan and divided it in part for ever, under US umbrella. These symptoms are enough to under stand the intention of our so called friend, for whom our ruler are blindly prepared to sacrifice the freedom, pride and dignity of Pakistan.
The time has come to dare and raise the voice against the conspirator i.e. USA ,intend to destabilize the Pakistan, being a democratic evil , USA has destroyed many country in order to grab their resources and to implement a system beneficial for their people in the name of democracy, human right and terrorism, the armed forces of Pakistan cant not protect the unity of the country without the strong support of People from all walk of like, unfortunately during the last 60 years ,the feudal ruling class has divided and exploited the people of Pakistan, small nationality and their resources in such a way that keep the people away from sharing this current situation ,which could be a moment to be exploited by the plotter.
Therefore, the need of the time, is to empower the people of Pakistan at grass route level and decide to involve them in to the day to day decision making process affecting the future of their generation and the prosperity, dignity and unity of Pakistan.IDP invite all the patriotic forces of Pakistan to unite and be prepared to take the rein of socio-political change in Pakistan to protect the future of our coming generation , with freedom, pride and dignity as being Pakistani.
www.idp.org.pk
Ilyas khan Baloch
Organizer, Islamic Democratic Party
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