RAWALPINDI – At least 40 people including officers of Pak Army and children were martyred and 83 others sustained injuries when at least six terrorists targeted Parade Lane Mosque here after Friday prayers.
However, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that 36 people including 17 children, 10 civilians, 9 Army personnel embraced martyrdom. According to ISPR, four terrorists approached a mosque inside Officers Residential Colony in Parade Lane and hurled grenades followed by indiscriminate firing. Two of the terrorists blew themselves up in two different halls. Security forces personnel in the area responded immediately and two other terrorists were killed in exchange of fire.
Former vice chief of army staff General (Retd) Muhammad Yousuf was also among the injured. The deceased included Director General Armoured Corps, Major General Umar Bilal Khan, Brigadier Abdul Rauf, Lt Col Fakhar, Lt Col Manzoor Saeed, Major Saeed and Major (Retd) Shoaib.
According to details, the terrorists targeted the mosque located in a very sensitive area, as many senior army officers reside there. It has also been learnt that most of the victims of this attack are serving or retired military officials and their children.
Officials and some eyewitnesses informed TheNation that two out of six terrorists, who came there in a car, entered the mosque and blew themselves up in two different halls. The eyewitnesses informed that the attackers sprayed bullets in and around the mosque and also hurled many hand grenades. As a result of attack, a portion of the mosque also caved in.
Army soldiers rushed to take position near the site of the attack and fought back in an hour-long gunfight and killed four attackers. Police and law enforcing agencies also reached the scene and cordoned off the area soon after the firing. Snipers were deputed on the high-rise buildings in the area, while helicopters hovered overhead throughout the operation.
According to details, the incident took place when at least six to seven gunmen entered the Parade Lane Mosque located near Qasim Market. They hurled hand grenades followed by indiscriminate firing. The security forces stationed there opened retaliatory fire and killed four terrorists.
A large number of people were present inside the mosque when the terrorists targeted the mosque. Ambulances of Rescue 1122 and Army shifted the injured to Military Hospital, Combined Military Hospital and other nearby hospitals of the City.
Soon after the attack, security forces and bomb disposal squad started collecting evidence from the site while rescue teams began their operation to shift the injured and the dead to various hospitals.
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Muhammad Aslam Tareen confirmed that 40 people were killed and 83 others got injured in the attack. He further said that initial information suggested that there were two to three attackers who entered the mosque.
Entire area was sealed after the blast and all the roads leading to the spot were blocked, while traffic from Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi, was diverted to other roads.
Capt (Retd) Ameerud Din Sheikh, an eyewitness, told this scribe that soon after the attack, he rushed towards the mosque to save his son and saw dead bodies and injured persons everywhere there. He said that it seemed that the attack was very well organised and the terrorists used very sophisticated weapons.
Another eyewitness Nasir Ali Sheikh told that he saw two attackers wearing white Shalwar Qameez (traditional Pakistani dress). He added that one of the attackers hurled three hand grenades into the mosque while the other one was spraying bullet from his gun.
Search operation continued in the residential area around the mosque till night where all the buildings were combed by security forces. The security forces also seized a car at the site of the incident, which was supposed to have been used for carrying the terrorists to their target point.
The sources informed that preliminary investigations revealed that the car was bearing a fake numberplate of Islamabad and was taken on lease from a bank in 2004.