KARACHI: Parcel bombs strike third time since 1993
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Oct 17: It is the third time that the city has been struck by parcel bombs since 1993 when they were first used and killed an unsuspecting jail superintendent.
The country’s first victim of parcel bomb was a jail superintendent who instantly died after he opened a medium-size diary in his residence, received through a courier service, on March 14, 1993.
The victim, Khalid Iqbal, who was acting DIG Prisons and superintendent of the Central Prison Karachi at the time, was scanning through his daily mail in his official jail residence, when he opened a parcel and it exploded killing him on the spot.
Mohammed Husain, the guard of Khalid Iqbal, was injured in the blast. According to him, as soon as the DIG unwrapped the parcel and opened the dairy which was inside the parcel an explosion shook the drawing room.
The explosive material was of 200gm slab of TNT. It was four inches long, one inch thick and two inches wide and was attached to a nine-volt battery that was used to detonate the device, described the late Moinuddin, then chief of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), in his manual “Letters & Parcel Bombs” outlining features and safety guidelines against parcel and letter bombs.
The parcel was delivered at the Central Prison by a private courier service.
Terrorists and criminals prefer parcel and letter bomb because it reduces the risk of detection, says the author in his booklet.
Mr Moinuddin had completed the booklet before his death on July 26, 2001.
His book says letter bombs normally do not contain time device, as it is uncertain when the mail would be delivered.
The method of delivery for letter bombs include: sent through mail, personal delivery, paid messenger or professional carrier. The size can range from a cigarette packet to a small table. Letter and parcel bombs usually carry letters, books, candy and figurines.
A bomb, made of an improvised material and weighing 200gm, concealed within the pages of a holy book, exploded at Maktaba Jaish-i-Mohammed near Binnori Town in June last year. No one was seriously injured in the explosion.
In 1994 a parcel, containing a grenade, was received at the residence of a serving army major in Bahadurabad. Since the army officer had old enmity with someone, he sensed foul play. He buried the parcel in his lawn and called the BDS.
The parcel bomb was packed in such a way that if anyone had tried to unwrap the parcel, the pin of the grenade would have automatically detached triggering explosion.
Unlike the first parcel bomb which was delivered by a courier service, this one was delivered by the mail parcel service of the Pakistan Post Office.
According to Mr Moinuddin’s manual, the use of improvised explosive device (IED) targeting an individual will normally ensure a greater chance of success for the terrorist.
Letter and parcel bombs are generally “victim activated.” Such bombs explode when the intended target activates the device by subjecting it to action.
Mr Moinduddin has given the following signs to recognize a parcel or a letter bomb.
Unknown or unclear the name place where it originated, the postmark or name of sender is unusual, usually having no sender’s address.
Restrictive marking “Confidential” “Personal,” etc. A package thatappears to contain books.
Misspellings of common words or erroneous titles, marked as sexually- explicit material, or indicating information about prize winning in competition.
Excessive or inadequate postage, handwriting of sender is unusual and uneven level of letters may be a clue. It should be kept in mind that letters are usually straight.
Does the letter seem heavy for its size? Most letters bombs weigh one ounce. Letter bombs weighing more than two ounces are 3/16th of an inch in thickness.
Greasy marks and stains, some explosive exude an oily substance, smell/ suspicious odour, noise of loose components rattling inside the device.
A small hole in the envelope of package wrapping-provision for an arming safety wire.
All these signs should be taken seriously by the recipient of a parcel before opening it.
The Manual says that if a letter or parcel exhibits any of these characteristics, it should be checked with a metal detector and X-rayed.
Proper screening of all mail at the post offices and the private courier centres is of utmost importance.
The mailroom and receipt branches’ personnel should have knowledge of screening techniques/use of IED recognition equipment.
The postal department should impart proper training to its staff to enable them to recognize letter and parcel bombs and to take measures to handle them, if they come across such things, the manual says.
Nine people were injured when three parcel bombs rocked the city on Oct 16. The fourth one of the series was defused through controlled explosion.
