13 killed, 52 injured in Mardan court suicide hit

MARDAN/PESHAWAR: At least 13 people, including three policemen, three lawyers and a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), were killed and 52 others sustained injuries in a suicide attack at the district courts in Mardan on Friday.

Sources and eyewitnesses said the police personnel deployed at the Kutchehry (district courts) played a heroic role first by physically engaging the suicide bomber and then chasing him when he tried to escape towards the bar room and the other congested parts of the judicial complex. The sources said the suicide bomber first hurled a hand-grenade at the cops manning the entrance of the district courts when he was stopped for physical search.

The district courts are located in the relatively secure area of Mardan Cantonment. A senior lawyer Haider Ali, who was an eyewitness, said there could have been heavy casualties of lawyers, judges and civilians had the policemen not responded quickly and eliminated the suicide bomber before he could reach his target. He said the policemen initially panicked with the first blast of hand-grenade but soon they calmed down and bravely confronted the suicide bomber.

District Police Officer Mardan Faisal Shehzad told The News that there could have been massive casualties had the suicide bomber reached the congested area where the bar room and judges' chambers are located.

"The hand-grenade that he hurled caused an explosion as well as a thick smoke at the main entrance. It enabled the suicide bomber to enter the district courts where scores of offices of the lawyers and judges' chambers and bar room are located. Eight policemen were deployed inside the district courts, and three of them including Azam Khan, Junaid Khan and Ishtiaq Khan actively responded and opened fire on the suicide bomber. Azam and Junaid risked their lives and tried to physically overpower the bomber to stop him from entering the congested area," said Faisal Shehzad. He said Azam and Junaid continuously chased the suicide bomber and used to fire shots at him.

"The suicide bomber panicked and escaped towards a verandah located on left side of the courts. He had hardly escaped about 10 meters when his explosives-laden jacket exploded with a huge impact. It is more likely his explosives-laden vest was triggered after being hit by the two cops," said DPO Mardan.

Faisal Shehzad said 13 people, three of them policemen, three lawyers and seven civilians were killed in the blast. The policemen who died in the blast were identified as Ishtiaq Khan, Azam Khan and Junaid Khan.

IGP Nasir Khan Durrani was full of praise for the martyred cops for sacrificing their lives to save the lives of so many other people. In particular, Junaid Khan was widely praised for his courage in tackling the suicide bomber.

"The loss of these precious lives has saddened us, but I am very proud of the bravery of three police jawans. They knew they would not survive but even then chased the suicide bomber and eliminated him before he could take several other lives," the Mardan police chief said.

DPO Faisal Shehzad said they were still investigating the case but from physical appearance of the suicide bomber he didn't appears to be a Pakistani. "It's too early to speculate but he looked like an Uzbek," he said. The police officer said they conducted some raids after the blast and arrested three suspects.

The three lawyers killed in the blast were identified as Saeed Akbar Khan, Yousaf Ali Shah and Ilyas Sani. Six of the slain civilians were Badar Munir, Ayaz, Ismail, Inayatullah, Fasihullah and Abdullah. Some of the injured were identified as Imran, Umar, Abid Ali, Muhammad Nawaz, Idrees, Khushdil, Inayatur Rehman, Kamal, Zubair, Abid Khan, Rohul Amin, Khursheed, Muhammad Ayaz, Muhammad Azam, Imran, Zafar, Riaz, Shakir, Muhammad Ashraf, Asad Zia, Muhammad Ijaz, Bilal Shah, Muhammad Naeem, Adil, Anwarullah, Lal Bahadur, Tahir, Abdul Rehman, Ajmal Abbasi, Abdul Sattar, Shah Nawaz, Abdul Rauf and Azmat.

Besides them, a senior politician and notable, Arshad Khan also died in the blast. One of his close friends, lawyer Haider Ali said Arshad Khan was resident of Hoti area in Mardan and owned agricultural land.

"Arshad Khan had done LLB but he was not a practicing lawyer. He used to come to the courts frequently in connection with his disputes and court cases with people who had illegally occupied his agricultural land. And today too he had come to appear in a case related to his property dispute," said Haider Ali.

Arshad Khan was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar in critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries in the afternoon. Arshad Khan previously belonged to the Pakistan People's Party and later he and Haider Ali joined the Awami National Party (ANP). He also remained chairman of the Mardan Municipal Committee for two terms.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak visited Mardan and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families. Meanwhile, soon after the blast, emergency was declared at the two major hospitals of Mardan - the District Headquarters Hospital and Mardan Medical Complex (MMC).

Haris Habib Khan, head of Rescue 1122 Mardan, said since their office is sited close to the district courts, it didn't take them much time to reach the spot and begin rescue and relief activities. He said they recovered all the bodies and rescued the injured to the two hospitals.

The police and security forces personnel reached the spot and asked the people who were present at the scene to lie down on the ground as there were two other suicide attackers. The security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, but no arrests could be made.

Earlier in the day, the security personnel knocked down four suicide bombers after they stormed the Christian Colony near Warsak Dam. The security guards engaged the suicide bombers carrying automatic weapons and hand-grenades after they broke into Christian Colony at around 6:00am. The personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, Pakistan Army and KP Police rushed to the scene of action. The exchange of fire between the attackers and the security personnel continued for long.

The roads leading to the Christian Colony were closed as the Army and police cordoned off the area and launched operation against the militants. "Four suicide bombers with arms and ammunition entered Christian Colony after hitting a security guard. The security forces promptly responded and besieged the area. All the four terrorists were killed," said an official of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

According to the ISPR official, two FC soldiers, a police constable and two security guards were injured in the exchange of fire. The security forces later carried out a search operation in Christian Colony to clear it.

A civilian, identified as Samuel, was killed in the firing. "The Chief of Army Staff has appreciated the Army, FC and police for prompt and effective response to foil the terrorist attempt," said the ISPR statement.

It was not known whether the attackers were targeting the Christian Colony or were seeking to attack the security installations near the residential area. Security in the area was enhanced following Friday's incident to foil any future attack.

A police official said the Army and the rapid response unit of the police arrived at the spot within no time after the attack. He said the attackers were cornered and their movement restricted to a building.

Assistant Inspector General of bomb disposal unit Shafqat Malik said one suicide jacket and four hand-grenades were defused by his team of experts. "Around six kilograms explosives were packed in the jacket that we defused. This meant that all the suicide bombers were carrying around 24kg explosives," said Shafqat Malik. He added that the suicide jackets were also packed with ball bearings and pellets to cause more casualties.

Senior officials said the attackers were planning a major attack like that of the Army Public School on the same Warsak Road in December 2014. However, they said the terrorists' designs were thwarted by the security forces and guards of the Christian Colony.

The roads leading to Warsak were closed as helicopters flew overhead and reinforcements of troops and equipment were being sent to the forward area.

According to media reports, the initial information suggested that the attackers had stayed in Ayshah Koroona in Shabqadar in Charsadda district before leaving for the attack. The Charsadda police officials on Thursday told the media that they had arrested two suicide bombers from Shabqadar area. Media reports said that a few SIM cards were also recovered from the attackers.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Jamaatul Ahrar, the Afghanistan-based splinter group of Pakistani Taliban headed by Abdul Wali aka Omar Khalid Khurasani, claimed responsibility for both the suicide attack on the district courts in Mardan and the assault on the Christian Colony.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider and other senior government officials condemned the terrorist attacks in Mardan and Peshawar which killed and injured innocent people.

In their separate statements, 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. They also prayed for speedy recovery of the injured people.  United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the Mardan attack and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured.