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| Allama Hassan Turabi assassinated |
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Saturday, July 15, 2006
Nephew also dies in Karachi suicide bombing; three cops wounded critically
AH Khanzada
KARACHI: Allama Hassan Turabi, a central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Shia Ulma Council, was assassinated when a suicide bomber exploded himself just in front of his house here on Friday, police and witnesses said. A head suspected to be that of the bomber was found at the scene.
Ghulam Ali, a teenage nephew of the 58-year-old Allama, was also killed, while three policemen deployed for guard duty were injured critically in the blast in the Abbas Town locality within the jurisdiction of the Sachchal police station, Mushtaq Shah, the DIG Operations, Karachi, told The News. “Allama Sahib and his nephew have died and three policemen have been critically wounded,” he said, adding that the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) defused a hand-grenade at the scene.
Witnesses told The News that a young man appeared in front of Allama Turabi’s house and told the guards he wanted to meet the Allama. At that time Allama Turabi had just returned after attending a protest demonstration against Israeli attack on Lebanon.
The police stopped the bomber from entering the house, but then he started shouting that he wanted to see Allama Turabi. “On his loud noises, the Allama, who had just entered his house, came out and asked, ‘Yes, who is he’,” a witness said, adding that the bomber drew closer to the Allama by a few steps, saying, “I have come from Khairpur” and exploded himself.
Allama Turabi and his nephew Ghulam Ali and police constables Kashif, Azhar and Fakhar sustained critical wounds in the blast. The locals immediately took them to the nearby Patail Hospital, where Ghulam Ali was pronounced dead on arrival. Allama Turabi was admitted in a critical condition but he succumbed to his injuries later. However, doctors are battling to save the policemen.
The police also summoned the BDU to clear the area, which found a hand-grenade with a detonator. The grenade was defused, a police source told The News. “There are similarities between this blast and the Nishtar Park blast,” a BDU officer told The News on condition of anonymity, referring to the April 11 suicide bombing in which top leaders of the Sunni Tehreek and scores of others were killed.
The BDU had no gadgets on the spot to measure the intensity of the bomb, but the official, on the basis of his experience, suggested the explosives used in this suicide hit weighed more than one kilogram.
However, a police spokesman later said the suicide bomber wore a jacket containing 2.5 kgs of explosives in which iron pellets were also present. “Had this bomb exploded at a public place, it could have been more harmful,” the spokesman quoted from a briefing given to Sindh IGP Jahangir Mirza at the office of the DIG Operations later in the day. A Russian-made grenade was defused at the scene, the spokesman added.
DIG Mushtaq Shah would not comment on the motives of the assassination immediately. “It will be too early,” he said. “We will take into consideration all aspects in the investigations.” The IGP announced a red alert and ordered for boosting security arrangements at all mosques, Imambargahs and other places of worship throughout the province, the spokesman said. He instructed that snap checking must be increased at bus terminals, railway stations and other buildings in the public and private sectors and those involved in sectarian killings in the past be associated with the investigations.
According to the spokesman the head found from the scene had been taken into custody and its pictures have been sent to the Nadra for identification. A DNA test would also be carried out, he added.
Sindh Home Minister Rauf Siddiqi has ordered an inquiry into the bombing by a judge of the Sindh High Court. He also constituted a separate high-level committee, comprising the inspector-general police (IGP) Sindh and the capital city police officer (CCPO) Karachi to evaluate facts.
In a statement, he termed the incident a conspiracy to destroy peace in Karachi and appealed to the people to remain clam. “The suicide bombing is a cowardly act that deserves maximum condemnation.”
The news of the assassination of Allama Hassan Turabi spread like jungle fire. Thousands of followers, supporters and sympathisers of the Allama gathered at his residence as well as in front of the hospital. Allama Hassan Turabi escaped unhurt on April 6, when a homemade bomb exploded near the car he was travelling in on the Abul Hassan Isphahani Road.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
