20 Namazis die in suicide attack on Peshawar Imamia Masjid

PESHAWAR: Twenty worshippers (Namazis) were killed and 71 others wounded when four suicide bombers attacked the Imamia Masjid in Hayatabad Town during the Friday prayers.
The attackers opened indiscriminate fire, hurled hand-grenades and detonated explosive-filled vests when worshippers were offering the last Rakat of the prayer.The attackers were wearing black Shalwar-Kameez resembling the Khassadars and Frontier Constabulary personnel to dodge security forces.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), headed by Mullah Fazlullah, claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesman Muhammad Khurasani contacted reporters from an undisclosed location to make the claim and to assert that the attack was carried out to avenge the recent hanging of militant commander Dr Usman, who had led the assault on the Pakistan Army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi on October 10, 2009.
The TTP chief for Peshawar, Darra Adamkhel, Kohat and Khyber Agency, Khalifa Umar Mansoor, in a statement said, “It’s just the start and the bombings will continue.”“There was sufficient security at the main gate and outside the Imamia Masjid. The attackers broke in through an under-construction building from the back side after cutting the razor-wire on the boundary wall,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani told The News.
At least four attackers were involved in the suicide mission. “Apparently, there were four attackers. Three of them detonated explosives strapped around their bodies. One was shot dead and around five kilograms of explosives in his jacket were defused,” the police chief said.
He added that two hands of one of the attackers and one hand of another terrorist had been retrieved and were intact. “Their fingerprints will be taken as evidence to establish their identities,” said an official who added that the attackers did not seem to be local.
Replicating the Army Public School and College attack that took place on December 16 last year, the attackers set their car — bearing registration number 1632 — on fire before scaling the 12-foot-high wall and cutting the fence on the back side of the Imamia Masjid.
Eyewitnesses said the worshippers scuffled with one of the suicide bombers inside the hall and snatched his Kalashnikov when he opened indiscriminate fire. He was later shot dead by security personnel.
Those present in the hallsaid the attackers seemed to be in their early 20s.There were conflicting statements about the number of attackers soon after the attack. Some officials and eyewitnesses said they were five in number while others put the figure at seven.
The police and soldiers of the Pakistan Army cordoned off the area after the attack. A search operation was launched as some media reports said that one of the attackers had escaped.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Operations Peshawar, Mian Saeed Ahmad, along with SPs of Cantt and City circles, rushed to the spot. He supervised the clearance operation. The official said evidence was being collected from the spot.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, Imran Khan, and Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak drove towards Hayatabad to visit the spot but were stopped by the security personnel halfway for security reasons.
Later, Imran Khan, along with the senior army officials, had an aerial view of the place of the attack through a helicopter.Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai, Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani, Awami National Party Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mahsud and other officials supervised the rescue operation and treatment of the wounded persons at the Hayatabad Medical Complex and other hospitals.
Experts of the bomb disposal unit continued sweeping the building for long to clear it from explosives. An official said three live hand-grenades hurled by the attackers along with one suicide jacket were also defused.
“We were offering the last Rakat of the prayers when the attackers hurled a grenade and then opened fire in the main hall. People ran for cover after the blast and firing. A few worshippers scuffled with the attackers to snatch the automatic rifles from them when one attacker blew himself up,” recalled an unnamed eyewitness.
Another eyewitness said the attackers were five or six in number and were wearing black uniforms.The people criticised the police for the lapse that led to the entry of the attackers into the main hall of the mosque during the Friday prayers.
Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani said seven policemen used to perform security duty at the building. “We have written to the federal government on a number of occasions to return the Frontier Constabulary units to the province so that they can be deployed on the boundary with Fata,” he added.
The minister said police had no access to the border areas where there isn’t any system to check the infiltration of militants and criminals.The Imamia Masjid in Hayatabad Phase-V is not far from the boundary with the troubled Khyber Agency from where it isn’t difficult for anyone to enter Peshawar and carry out an attack after planning it in the tribal area.
Farhan Ali Bangash, the brother of Ali Imran Bangash, a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Peshawar, and his cousin DSP Naveed Abbas Bangash were among those killed.
Others killed were identified as Asad Ali, Mohsin Raza, Abdullah, Zafarullah, Syed Arif Hussain, Syed Mohammad Arif, Subedar Haji Hassan, Riaz Hussain, Abbas Ali, Arab Ali, Siffat Ali, Qalb-e-Ali, Muhammad Gulfam, Kazim Ali and Muhammad Musa.
Muhammad Mehdi, son of the prayer leader Nazir, was wounded while his nephew Riaz was killed in the attack. The prayer leader remained unharmed.The bodies of several of those killed were transported to Kohat for burial as they belonged to villages in that district.
The other wounded included Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Habib, Abid Raza and Ghulam Abbas. They were being treated at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, where most of the wounded were taken as it was close to the site of the attack. Some injured persons were also taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital and Lady Reading Hospital.
The Shia community announced three-day mourning over the killings of worshippers in the attack while a countrywide protest was announced for tomorrow (Sunday).Different Shia organisations including Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), Shia Ulema Council (SUC) and Jaferia Alliance announced a three-day mourning. They demanded arrest of the planners of the attack as well as ensuring security to places of worship all over the country.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced Rs500,000 compensation for those killed and Rs200,000 for the wounded. Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak paid a visit to the Hayatabad Medical Complex to enquire after those injured in the terrorist attack. The hospital’s Chief Executive, Dr Mumtaz Marwat, told him that 20 bodies and 59 injured persons were brought to the HMC. He added that 10 of the injured were in critical condition.
President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, Chief Minister Parvaiz Khattak, PTI chief Imran Khan, JI Ameer Sirajul Haq, QWP head Aftab Sherpao, ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri and other political leaders condemned the attack and the killing of innocent worshippers during Friday prayers.
They prayed that Almighty Allah rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear the loss with equanimity.