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Suicide Attack in NW Pakistan: Twelve killed and 25 injured

by Mritunjay | November 8, 2009 at 12:54 am

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A suicide attack apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor, Abdul Malik in the North-Western city of Adazai, 10 miles from Peshawar, on Sunday (local time) claimed eleven lives including the mayors'. The blast in a crowded market killed 11 other people and injured dozens. The market was crowded with shoppers on a shopping spree on account of the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid.

The mayor, Abdul Malik, who was initially reported to have survived, died in the attack, said Sahibzada Anis, the top official in Peshawar.
Malik, who had once been a Taliban supporter, had later switched sides and formed a local militia to help fight the militants.

''Malik had survived several attacks on his life in the recent past, since he turned against the militants,'' said Anis. ''But today the militants have finally killed him.''

Eleven bodies and 25 injured people had been rushed to the hospital, police officer Abdul Sattar Khan said. A young girl was among those killed and several of the injured were in critical condition, officials said.

In a recent spate of attacks in last few weeks, mostly in such crowded market places and other civil and military locations, the militants have struck numerous times, killing more than 300 civilians and soldiers in attacks aimed at weakening the government's resolve to continue a military operation against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in South Waziristan.

Khan Zamir was buying goats for the Eid celebration when an explosion ripped through the street.
''That place turned into a hell where the dead and injured were lying everywhere and blood and flesh were spread around,'' he said, adding that two of his relatives were badly injured. ''Now we have our blood in this war,'' he said, vowing revenge against the attackers.

The Pakistani government launched the current offensive in mid-October in the semiautonomous tribal region, running along the Afghan border. The Pakistani government seldom had any significant influence in these areas which led it to become the main Taliban and Al-Qaida sanctuary in the nation. About 350,000 people have fled the areas since fighting started.

While the the military says hundreds of militants have been killed in the fighting the Taliban sources have constantly denied the claims.

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Mritunjay

at 01:03 on November 8th, 2009

CNN video report of the attack here.

Blogking

at 01:17 on November 8th, 2009

Bomb blasts, death, militant....seems these words dominate the news from that part of the world these days. So much so that the news is not even on the front page of most of the conventional media!

Thanks for the update.

Mritunjay

at 01:27 on November 8th, 2009

I agree Blogking...a lot of people have been killed and injured recently. Add to that the issue of people fleeing their homes. The pain of being rendered homeless is in itself a horrible experience.

With the recent developments the war does not seem to be over anytime soon.

The fact that the military and local govt. is promoting the people to join and raise local militia is even more disturbing. It may be good for now to keep the militants at bay but I fear that dismantling the militia post war would be a challenge in itself. Afterall isn't this how Taliban was created in first place?

Thanks for reading, recommending and commenting.

Ninja Mayhem

at 03:53 on November 8th, 2009

True. Such militias can become a problem in themselves esp. in a area where the federal rule was never strong.

Mritunjay

at 01:32 on November 8th, 2009

AFP reports 36 injured-

A suicide car bomber struck near a busy cattle market in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Sunday, killing 12 people including a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, police said.

The bomber also wounded 36 people outside a property of Mayor Abdul Malik on the outskirts of the northwest city troubled by Islamist militancy. Malik, one of a number of city mayors, had raised a militia against Taliban rebels.