CHARSDDA, Feb 10: Hundreds of people mourned as victims of the Shabqader bomb blast were laid to rest on Sunday. Meanwhile, two of the injured people died on Sunday, raising the death toll to 27.
A four-member team has been constituted to investigate the incident.
The atmosphere in the area was tense.
A powerful bomb ripped through a public meeting of the Awami National Party on Saturday, killing 25 people and injuring 51 others.
AIG (investigation) Fiaz Turu constituted the probe team headed by SP investigation Zubair Ullah. There was a deep feeling of grief all around.
Afser Shah, who lost his two cousins, said that pieces of human flesh were lying scattered at the blast site.“The culprits don’t belong to any religion nor are they human beings,” said Habibullah, who lost a son. “Many people have lost their bread-winners.”Three unidentified bodies and human limbs wrapped in bags were kept at the mortuary of the district headquarters hospital in Charsadda. Police also found a severed head at the place.
A series of bomb blasts and suicide attacks have rocked Charsadda over the past few months, leaving over 116 people dead.
The Saturday’s blast brought electioneering to a standstill in the district and the ANP announced three-day mourning across the province.
Police and investigators insisted that it was a suicide attack, but the ANP categorically rejected the claim and held the government responsible for the outrageous attack.
ANP district president Basheer Khan Umarzai said that the blast was caused by a bomb planted at the venue of the rally.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said that four party workers had suffered bullet injuries. He accused police of trying to destroy all evidences and said even the crater left by the blast had been filled.
He claimed that paramilitary soldiers deployed at the public meeting had opened fire which caused injuries to some innocent people. He said it was definitely not a case of suicide attack because the person who had planted the bomb was seen escaping from the place.
He also refuted a claim that a suicide bomber was targeting ANP’s provincial president Afrasiab Khattak.
“Suicide attack doesn’t leave crater and the attacker doesn’t flee from the place,” said Mr Umarzai, who is contesting the elections against former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao.
DSP Shabqadar Ihsanuddin and SHO Batagram Sabz Ali, however, insisted that it was a case of suicide attack.
CHARSDDA, Feb 10: Hundreds of people mourned as victims of the Shabqader bomb blast were laid to rest on Sunday. Meanwhile, two of the injured people died on Sunday, raising the death toll to 27.
