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| 20 die as bomber hits Peshawar Judicial Complex |
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Three cops among dead; over 50 injured; courts across NWFP to remain closed today in protest
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Judicial Complex on the Khyber Road here on Thursday, killing 20 people, including three cops, and wounding over 50 others.
Hundreds of people were inside the building while dozens were moving out when a suicide bomber tried to make his way into the building but was intercepted by the cops on duty at around 10:15 am.
“This was a suicide attack in which 16 people were killed. The bomber wanted to enter the Judicial Complex but he blew himself up when stopped by the policemen on the main gate during a search,” Sahibzada Muhammad Anis, District Coordination Officer (DCO), Peshawar, told newsmen at the site. He added that those killed in the explosion included an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and two cops.
The blast also damaged seven nearby vehicles and smashed the windowpanes of the NWFP Assembly Secretariat, the Peshawar High Court (PHC), offices of the provincial ministers and secretaries as well as residences of the corps commander of Peshawar and the inspector general of police.
“As the policemen stopped a suspicious teenager, dropped at the main gate by a cab, he detonated explosives tied to his body,” recalled Imranullah, an eyewitnesses who had come to the court for hearing. He added that hundreds of those present inside the building ran for life amid cries and shouts when they regained their senses.
Security forces cordoned off the area after the explosion and the Khyber Road was blocked for all kinds of traffic as rescue work was launched. Ambulances rushed the bodies and wounded to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), where an emergency was declared.
“We have received 17 bodies and 46 injured. Six of them are in a serious condition,” Abdul Hameed Afridi, the LRH chief executive, told newsmen in the noon before the toll jumped to 20.
The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) estimated around 10 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. The BDU staff said ball bearings had been stuffed in the suicide vest to cause maximum loss.
Those killed in the explosion were identified as ASI Khaista Gul, head constable Fazal Rahim, another cop whose name could not be ascertained, Imran, Murad Khan, Jawad, Sarwar, Fazal Hayat, Sakhawat, Ibrahim, Pir Bakhsh, Ayub, Arshad, Ghayas, Muhammad Ahsan and Hayat. The names of four slain persons could not be ascertained.
The PHC and other subordinate courts stopped working in protest. PHC Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan visited the site, along with other staff members, to get first-hand information about the terror incident.
Taking a strong exception to the attack on the court premises, the NWFP Bar Council announced boycott of court proceedings across the province today (Friday). The Peshawar High Court Bar Association will meet today to chalk out the strategy for forestalling such incidents in future.
No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. Visiting the site immediately after the blast, NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour insisted that a foreign hand was behind the frequent blasts in the city. The minister said terrorists were getting foreign aid. “Terrorists spread to other areas soon after the announcement of the Waziristan operation. However, things will soon improve,” the minister said.
APP/NNI add from Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira have strongly condemned the blast in Peshawar and reiterated the resolve of the government to eliminate terrorism.
The US Embassy also condemned the blast outside the Judicial Complex in Peshawar. “The embassy extends our sympathy to the victims of this attack and the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this cruel attack,” the embassy spokesman said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack deserve the contempt of civilised people everywhere,” the spokesman added.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
