MINGORA – At least 17 policemen were killed and 27 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a police training camp in Mingora town of Swat Valley on Sunday.
The bomber entered the camp after climbing over the boundary wall and blew himself up when he reached amidst the policemen gathered there to receive training. Around 14 persons died on the spot while three others succumbed to injuries shortly after the incident. Approximately 27 were injured in the attack and some of them are in critical condition.
Some of the killed persons have been identified as Aftab Gul, Hazrat Yousaf, Anwar Khan, Rahmat Ali, Khaista Mohammad, Akbar Ali, Umar Bacha, Itbar Gul, Alam Khan and Azizullah.
The police training camp is located near Mingora Police Station.
Deputy Inspector General Police Malakand Range, Mohammad Idrees, while talking to media did not explicitly admitted that it was a suicide attack, but the eyewitnesses and other police personnel confirmed that it was a suicide attack.
Immediately after the attack, curfew was imposed in the city. The high-ups of law enforcement agencies reached the site and supervised the rescue activities.
Inspector General of Police, NWFP, Malik Naveed Khan, taking strict notice of suicide blast issued directive for immediate suspension of the SHO. He also ordered high-level enquiry for the incident and announced Rs 500,000 for each killed police personnel.
Reuters/AFP/Online add: The suicide attack left 17 policemen dead, a month after the Army claimed the area had been cleared of Taliban.
“The policemen were being given training in Mingora town when a suicide bomber entered the ground and blew himself up near the recruits,” Swat police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq told AFP.
A senior administration official, Ateef-ur-Rehman, confirmed the attack and said there were a number of casualties, adding police had been put on high alert against more attacks.
Another local senior police official, Mohammad Idrees, said that a curfew had been imposed in Mingora, adding troops and police were patrolling the town and people quickly shut their businesses in fear of more bombings.
It was the first major attack in Mingora since the military claimed last month to have cleared the valley of Taliban militants, paving the way for residents who had fled the area to avoid the fighting to begin returning home.
“Training was going on when a suicide bomber disguised as a recruit walked into the building and blew himself up,” Mian Iftikhar Hussain, NWFP Information Minister, told Reuters. “We have reports that several recruits were killed” in the attack in Mingora, he said.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the killings but said the government was determined to fight militancy. “We will not allow the enemies of the country to succeed in their evil designs,” a statement from Gilani’s office quoted him as saying.
Military push had allayed fears among its allies, in particular the United States and other countries with troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, that the country was failing to get to grips with spreading violence.
However, security analysts said militants allied to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban still posed a serious threat to Pakistan.
At least 17 police recruits were killed and over 40 others seriously injured in the suicide attack in Mingora, Online news agency reported.
NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain earlier told reporters that 12 policemen were killed in the attack. He said the suicide bomber climbed the compound wall to enter the facility. He added that although the security forces have dismantled the terroristsÂ’ bases in the country, the rebels still have the capacity to launch attacks on government facilities.
He said the war against terror will continue till the militants are eliminated from the country.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and NWFP governor Owais Ghani also strongly condemned the attack.