QUETTA, Feb 18: Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a house after a heavy exchange of fire with police on the Ghalzai Street at around Thursday mid-night.
They were planning a suicide attack on the Sunday Ashura procession on the Alamdar road, police said, adding that the police raid on the house had foiled their plan.
The bodies of the bombers were reduced to bits because they used high-explosive and hand-grenades for blowing themselves up," Capital City Police Officer Rafi Pervez Bhatti told Dawn. They belonged to the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi organization. The incident took place in an area where a number of Imambargahs are located.
Police found two AK-147 automatic rifles, hundreds of ammunition rounds, and five hand-grenades. The walls of the room in which the bombers blew themselves up had sectarian slogans inscribed on them.
Police have arrested a property dealer who had arranged the lease of the house for the militants and had not provided information to police and officials concerned about the tenants.
"His involvement cannot be ruled out," Mr Bhatti said, adding that despite clear government orders the property dealer had not informed police about the tenants who had hired the house.
According to sources, a contingent of Quaidabad police station raided the house after receiving information about the suspects activities. They cordoned off the entire area, entered the house and asked the residents to surrender.
However, the men in the house opened fire and also lobbed hand-grenades. The police contingent returned fire. The exchange of fire continued for about half an hour. When the armed men realized that they would not be able to escape they wrapped explosives and grenades around their bodies and blew themselves up.
Balochistan's Inspector-General Police Chaudhary Mohammad Yaqoob said at a press conference that police had also recovered some important documents which would help in tracing the gang behind the suicide bombers. Several teams of senior officers, he added, were investigating the matter.
"The documents and slogans written on the walls of the room and bullets show that the terrorists belonged to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi," he said. "Probably they wanted to attack Alam or Ashura procession that starts from the area where the house is located," Chaudhary Yaqoob told a questioner. He said that had the terrorists succeeded in carrying out their plan, they would have caused huge losses of lives.
The IGP said that after the incident security arrangements had been further strengthened and around 5,000 police personnel had been deployed in areas where Imambargahs were located.
He said that the army and the Frontier Corps were also on high alert to meet any emergency. "Whenever needed, troops would be available to help police and the civil administration."
He said that before the Ashura procession, all areas, roads and streets leading to Liaquat Bazaar and other routes of the procession would be sealed. No outsider would be allowed to join the procession.
He said that surveillance cameras had been installed along the route of processions. Replying to a question, he said that following the incident, police and law-enforcement personnel had conducted raids in different areas of Quetta and other places in the province to check activities of suspects and people belonging to banned organizations.
"We have picked up an important person from Mastung, while seven others were taken into custody two days back from Dera Murad Jamali," Chaudhary Yaqoob said. He said: "Police will carry out its duty to protect the life and property of people. He asked the participants of the Ashura procession not to carry any weapon for their protection.
"Police will provide them full protection," he said. Responding to another question, he said that the copy of the national identity card the suicide bombers had given to the property dealer showed that they belonged to Dalbandin. "The slogans written on the walls of the room were in Brahvi language," he said.
