GHALANAI, Dec 6: At least 40 people were killed and over 60 others injured in two suicide attacks at the administrative compound of Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
“Two suicide bombers struck at a time when people, including security guards, were preparing for Zohr prayers,” Amjad Ali Khan, administrator of Mohmand, told Dawn on phone from the regional headquarters of Ghalanai.
According to a foreign news agency, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organisation of several militant groups, has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Mr Amjad put the death toll at 40, but agency’s Surgeon Dr Mohammad Riaz said it could rise to 50 as army personnel were still retrieving bodies from the rubble of the crumbled compound.
The administrator said that one bomber wearing uniform of Khasadar (local tribal police) blew himself up at the main gate and the other inside the compound.
“Monday is a working day and usually 2,000 to 3,000 tribesmen come for different errands and official work. Thank God, it was prayers’ time. Otherwise, the casualty figure would have been much higher,” he said.
He put the blame on the defunct Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
“The cowards (Taliban militants) have struck again. But we are not going to spare them and will flush them out of their last remaining pocket,” he said.
Mr Amjad said that militants hiding in the Afghan border region had carried out the attack. “This was a pre-emptive strike to stall a possible military operation. But we are not deterred,” he said.
Among the dead are 12 government officials and two television journalists --Pervez Khan and Abdul Wahab. Political tesildar Zabit Khan is among the injured.
An earlier report said the bombers wanted to target an anti-Taliban and pro-government peace committee from Safi region in Mohmand, but Mr Amjad denied this. He said that only one tribal elder from the area had been killed in the attack.
Government officials said there were plans to launch an operation in Mohmand, but it was postponed because of security arrangements for Muharram.
“I was sitting in an office when the first blast shook the building. It was followed by another huge blast,” a journalist in Ghalanai said. “The front wall of the office collapsed and thick dust and smoke filled the air,” he added.
A security official said that paramilitary forces had launched an operation in Mohmand, but left it half-way because of shortage of troops. “Now we are preparing for a final push and it will be done soon,” the official said. He declined to give details due to security sensitivity.
An emergency was declared in the AHQ hospital in Ghalanai. Medical Superintendent Dr Jehnagir Khan said that 41 bodies and over 60 injured had been brought to the hospital. About 40 seriously wounded people were shifted to hospitals in Peshawar.
Doctors confirmed that 35 wounded were under treatment in the Leady Reading Hospital. Three people died on way to the hospital.
The people killed in the twin-blast included Malak Haji Salim (a leader of the Safi Peace Committee), Zahid Khan (reader at APA Ghalanai office), Mujeeb Khan (manager of Allied Bank), Alam Zeb (official at C&W), Malak Kachkol, Jamail Khan, Ghulam Hussain, Zia Wali Shah, Haleem Shah, Kabal Khan, Sawab Gul, Ghulam Rasool, Nadar, Siar Gul, Shafiullah, Anwar Shah (clerk), Mian Ghufran, Mian Abdul Rashid and Habibur Rehman.
Security personnel have cordoned off the area and imposed a curfew.
AFP adds: “Our two suicide bombers targeted people who were working against the Taliban,” Omar Khalid, the purported chief of TTP in Mohmand, told AFP by telephone from an unknown location.
“Those who will work against us and form lashkars (tribal army) or peace committees will be targeted. Our war is to enforce Sharia and anyone who hinders our way or sides with America will meet the same fate,” he warned.
More than 100 people were believed to have been in the compound where government officials, allied tribal elders and members of local anti-Taliban militia were meeting as the bombers struck.
Local official Maqsood Amin said that the building was badly damaged.
“At least two rooms and a veranda were demolished.”
It was the second suicide attack in five months targeting Mohmand tribal elders allied to the government. On July 9, a suicide car bomb attack killed 105 people in the town of Yakaghund, also in the region.