10 killed in suicide attack on political gathering in Pakistan

Islamabad’s envoy in Kabul goes missing during journey to Afghanistan

At least 10 people were killed and 13 others injured seriously when a teenage boy blew himself up Monday in a political gathering at Mirali town of troubled North Waziristan Agency, a district in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

According to reports reaching Pakistan capital from the region, President of the North Waziristan chapter of Pakhtun nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) Haji Anwar Shah was among those who died in bombing at a joint gathering of ANP and tribal ‘Lashkar’ (force) raised recently by the local tribesmen to evict foreign militants from the area.

Quoting witnesses reports from Mirali said that a suicide bomber blew himself up when the party workers reached Eedak village where armed men of ‘Lashkar’ were manning a checkpoint they had set up on main Bannu-Miramshah road to search the vehicles carrying goods to Afghanistan. The attacker reportedly travelled with the ANP activists from Tappi to Mirali, where they had gone as part of their election campaign.

An independent candidate for NA-40 constituency affiliated with ANP, Nisar Ali Khan, reportedly received minor injures in the blast. Seven persons including the bomber died on the spot while three later succumbed to their injured in a hospital, as the injured were rushed to Mirali and Miramshah hospitals where doctors declared some of them in a critical condition.

A senior official of local administration reportedly said that legs of the suicide bomber had been recovered from the scene of the crime. Earlier, a suicide bomber had blown himself up on Saturday in an election rally of the ANP at Shabqadar in Charsadda district of the North West Frontier Province, killing 27 of the party workers.

Ambassador goes missing

Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin went missing in Khyber Agency, tribal district bordering Afghanistan, along with his driver and security guard while driving to Kabul from Peshawar.

It was believed he was kidnapped in the mountainous tribal territory notorious for kidnappings, however, no group or individual claimed responsibility for abduction. There was also no information whether the kidnappers had contacted the family of the ambassador or any government official to demand ransom or put forth any other demand.

Sources close to the administration in Khyber Agency reportedly said Ambassador Azizuddin or his staff had not informed them about his plan to drive through the Khyber Pass on his way to Afghanistan. They said proper security would have been provided to the ambassador had known his travel plan. The ambassador reportedly left his residence in University Town district of Peshawar 10 a.m. (local time) for Jamrud, first main town in Khyber Agency, and apparently went missing around 11 a.m.

The Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad also announced that Ambassador Azizuddin was missing. The Khyber Agency administration reportedly launched efforts to locate the missing diplomat and deployed personnel of the paramilitary forces at the entry and exit points of the tribal district to intercept the purported kidnappers. Unlike other tribal areas, there is almost no activity of militant groups in Jamrud and Landikotal areas of Khyber Agency and it is believed that gangs of criminals are mostly involved in kidnappings to get ransom.

In the case of Azizuddin too it was believed a gang of criminals might have abducted him. However, involvement of an irate group of tribesmen in the kidnapping could not be ruled out. Two Pakistani employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were also kidnapped in the same region recently and their captors have called the family of one of the kidnapped persons demanding payment of a hefty amount for their release.

Ambassador Azizuddin, who belongs to Peshawar, has been Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul since late 2005. Earlier he had served in the Pakistan embassy in Kabul during the rule of Burhanuddin Rabbani in various capacities, including first secretary.