19 killed in Jamrud bazaar car bombing

JAMRUD: Nineteen persons, including four Afghan refugee women, were killed and 48 other people sustained injuries when an explosive-laden car parked in the main bazaar of Jamrud town in Khyber Agency exploded on Monday, eyewitnesses said.

The Suzuki Alto car, apparently filled with explosives, had been parked at a small vehicles workshop located close to a bus stand in the Jamrud Bazaar. It exploded at 10:15am when there was a rush of people there. The site of the explosion was not far from the Bab-e-Khyber, the famous gateway to the Khyber Pass.

All those killed were civilians and included shopkeepers and vendors, customers, drivers and passengers. Among the dead were four women and two minors of an Afghan family on its way to Afghanistan from Peshawar in a car. They were caught in the deadly explosion and their burnt bodies were charred and almost beyond recognition.

Some of the dead were identified as Aqal Mir, Muhammad Rasool, Muhammad Shakir, Wahid Khan, Khanabad, Sher Zaman, Waheedur Rehman and Asif Khan. The identity of 11 charred bodies lying in the mortuary of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Jamrud could not be established.

The injured included Janbaz, Dauran, Riaz, Allah Noor, Ehsanullah, Naqeeb Khan, Fateh Muhammad, Irfanullah, Muhammad Ikram, Hazrat Khan, Fahad Khan, Maidan Gul, Samin Jan, Mir Askar, Shaukatullah, Lal Muhammad, Jamal Shah, Janat Gul, Altaf, Hazrat Umar, Nawab, Amir Jan, Muhammad Pervez, Daulat, Hamid Khan, Shahzeb, Usman Gul, Abdul Hannan, Noor Shah, Jan Nawaz, Abad Khan and Faqir Hussain. The majority of the injured were said to be Afghan nationals.

The injured were rushed to the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar where two of them succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 19.Following the explosion, the personnel of security forces and officials of Khyber Agency’s political administration reached the site of the bombing. The soldiers fired warning shots in the air.

About seven shops were completely destroyed and 22 vehicles parked near the explosive-laden car in the market were damaged. The residents helped the authorities in shifting the injured to hospitals in their own vehicles. The Al-Khidmat Foundation arranged coffins for the slain persons.

Visiting the blast scene, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said: “Those who carried out this act of cowardice are neither Muslims nor human beings.”The minister, who has made it a point to visit almost every site of bombing, said the war on terror would continue till the eradication of militancy present in the area. He reiterated that the government was not afraid of terrorists and would fight them to the end. He conveyed his deep sympathies to the families of the deceased and injured.

Meanwhile, Khyber Agency’s Political Agent Muttahir Zaib announced Rs300,000 each as compensation for the families of the dead and Rs100,000 each for the injured.

No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Normally, the militants don’t claim responsibility for bomb attacks in which civilians and innocent people are killed. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is quick to claim responsibility for the bomb attacks and suicide bombing, kept quiet over the act of terrorism in Jamrud.

Though sections of the media quoted unnamed security officials as saying that members of the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe were the target of the attack for raising an anti-militant Lashkar in Landikotal and Tirah valley in Khyber Agency, this wasn’t being confirmed by tribal sources and the militants. The workshop or the adjacent bus stand in the Jamrud bazaar is not frequented by the Zakhakhels only as people of every Afridi tribe besides others are seen there. Also, there was no presence of security forces, Levies or Khassadars at the site who could have become a target and there was no government or military installation there.

It also wasn’t clear if the explosive-packed car was intended for use where it exploded or was to be detonated somewhere else.There have been big bomb explosions in Jamrud in the past also, including one in the bazaar at a bus stand frequented by the Zakhakhels and another at a mosque at the Bagyari checkpost near the Jamrud town. Dozens of people were killed in these explosions.

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