September 12, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1429

TIMERGARA, Sept 11: The victims of grenade attack on a mosque in Miskene area have ruled out that the incident was result of any tribal feud.

Those who got injuries during the attack told Dawn at the Timergara Hospital that they were offering prayers when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade inside the mosque.

“We have no enmity with any one and often people take revenge openly not secretly as we consider it against the local norms,” an injured man said. Those involved in attack were not Muslims, another man said, adding that Muslims could not even think to attack someone during prayers.

Meanwhile, the dead bodies were buried at the local graveyard and Jamaat-i-Islami provincial chief Sirajul Haq led the funeral prayers. The hand-grenade had hit the rear ranks of the people where young people used to stand for prayers, therefore, the victims were below 30 years of age. Being a far-flung mountainous area, people faced trouble in taking the injured to hospitals, said relatives of the victims.

The injured had been admitted to the DHQ hospital Timergara. Those who died in the incident were identified as Araf Khan, Sajjadul Haq, Zaheer Ali, Wajid, Noor Mohammad and Salahuddin. The victims belonged to the Banai village. Three of the injured were referred to Peshawar as their condition was critical, sources in the hospital said.

The district coordination officer (DCO) Lower Dir told this scribe that the attack on the mosque could be an act of terrorism or the result of tribal feud.

DCO Ghulam Mohammad visited the mosque while District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Fida Hassan, DSP Jehangir Khan and DSP Mohammad Saeed accompanied him on the occasion.

The DPO clarified reports about the casualties in the incident saying that six people lost their lives in the attack while 32 others had been injured. The DCO and DPO assured people of the area that the culprits would soon be brought before the law. However, they urged locals to extend their cooperation to the police in this regard. “No stone would be left unturned to find out those involved in the tragic and bloody incident,” said the DPO.