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SHABQADAR: The fresh-faced cadets of Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary were meant to be taking the fight to the Taliban. Instead the fight came to them, in a horrific bloodbath.
A pair of Taliban suicide bombers on Friday turned a joyous homecoming for the newly trained paramilitary police cadets into a massacre of at least 80 people, ripping apart human flesh shortly after morning prayers.
Scores of cadets were getting into buses, looking forward to seeing their families for the first time after weeks of gruelling courses designed to turn them into frontline fighters in Pakistan's war against the insurgents.
Little did they know that they were already on the frontline.
As a group stood by, discussing after breakfast whether it really was a good idea to be travelling en masse from their academy in the northwest town of Shabqadar, the motorcycle-borne bombers struck, seconds part.
“Our trainers had already advised us not to go in groups. We were standing outside the gate, discussing whether to go in groups and then the blast happened,” said Gul Momin, 21, his leg in plaster.
“We had been very happy,” he added. “I was loading my bag into the bus when the blast took place. I was seriously injured but wasn't knocked out. I crawled towards a safe place, then I heard another huge blast.
“Everybody was lying on the ground and crying. I saw people lying in blood and dying. There were dead bodies and body parts. I can't put it into words.” The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the country's bloodiest militant attack this year as vengeance for the May 2 killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by US forces north of Islamabad.
A 25-year-old paramilitary constable was sliced by shrapnel in the neck, left leg and back shoulder. He said he had gone out to buy some bread while the cadets were milling around preparing to go home
“When I opened my eyes, I saw destruction everywhere. I saw cadets screaming and crying for help lying on the ground. It was horrible. Everything was ruined. It was a blood pool,” Hidayat Noor told AFP from his hospital bed.
Visiting the bomb site and visibly distressed, Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister for Khyber Paktunkhwa province, lashed out at the attackers.
“Why are these beasts targeting innocent people? These young boys were going back to see their parents. They were Muslims. They were Pashtuns,” he said.
“Can I ask, why are they (Taliban) targeting their own countrymen? This is not Islam.” The Frontier Constabulary is a paramilitary police force that has notably been deployed to frontline duties in militant-infested areas such as Khyber Paktunkhwa, on the porous and dangerous border with Afghanistan.
Its members are drawn largely from the Pashtun community, the same ethnic group who form the bedrock of Taliban support, in the hope that their local knowledge can be turned against the fundamentalist militia.
The Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Shahqabar, declared a state of emergency as medics battled to treat 140 wounded, including 40 who were fighting for their lives.
Relatives of the victims were seen crying and running to fetch medicines as others donated blood in a nearby ward.
Naqeeb Ullah, 22, received shrapnel in his right hand and leg, but his condition was stable.
“I was told they may send me to Khyber or Karachi (to work after training) but I was thinking about my family.
“The guards at the gate started firing after the blast. I tried to get to safety and then the second explosion came. It was like someone pushing me away. Body parts fell on me,” he said.
“I am injured but let me tell you – I am ready to die. I want to embrace martyrdom. I'm not afraid of these beasts.”
