HANGU – At least 12 people were killed and 30 others got injured when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of civilians guarded by security forces here in tehsil Tal on Friday.
According to details, the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy of vehicles escorted by law enforcement agencies that was on its way from Tal of Hangu district to Parachinar, Kurram Agency, on Tal-Parachinar Road in the jurisdiction of Dandore area of Hangu.
The injured were rushed to CMH Tal and District Headquarters Hospital Hangu where the condition of some of them was stated to be critical.
Being a sensitive area, passenger caravans passing from this area are usually accompanied by four to five vehicles of security forces. Four vehicles were also destroyed in the attack. Soon after the incident, the security forces cordoned off the area and imposed curfew. Similarly Tal Bazaar was also closed down.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the suicide attack. The two leaders in their separate messages expressed their deep shock and grief over the sad incident in which several security personnel and civilians were killed.
They expressed their resolve not to be deterred by such acts of violence and vowed to continue the fight against terrorism till its logical conclusion.
The two leaders conveyed their grief to the bereaved families and directed best possible treatment for the injured. They also sought an enquiry into the incident and directed the provincial authorities to investigate and submit a report.
NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan and Provincial President Afrasyab Khattak have condemned the attack. They expressed sympathies with the families of those who breathed their lost in this deadly suicide attack and prayed for early recovery of the injured.
Agencies add: “Our convoy was hit by a big explosion,” said witness Javed Hussain, who was in the convoy of vehicles carrying Shiite Muslims to the city of Peshawar. “It’s all chaos here. I myself have seen four dead and two of them are children. I have seen four wounded women.”
Mir Chaman, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Hangu, said at least 12 people were killed and 30 were wounded.
Kohat Commissioner Khalid Khan told AFP the 12 dead included four women and two children. Police said 31 people were wounded. “The target was a Shia convoy. This is sectarian violence,” he said. Police said a curfew had been slapped on the market area. “The dead include seven Shias who were travelling in the convoy,” said police officer Abdul Rashid Khan.
Local lawmaker Mufti Janan Ahmed said the bomber ploughed his vehicle into the centre of the 20-vehicle convoy, which was carrying Shia travellers coming from the northwestern towns of Parachinar to Kohat.
Police official Islamuddin Khattak said the blast destroyed five vehicles and police were battling to extinguish the resulting blaze.
According to bomb disposal squad, about seven kilogram explosive material was used in the blast.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan since July 2007, a campaign blamed on militants opposed to the governmentÂ’s alliance with the United States. But after a significant rise in bloodshed in late 2009, there has been a marked decline in attacks so far this year.
There have been no mass civilian losses or bombings in major cities since a bombing at a volleyball match killed 101 people on New YearÂ’s Day. That was around two weeks before the US drone attack that may have killed Hakimullah Mehsud.