Terror hits Peshawar again: Eight martyred, 90 injured as bomb rips through seminary

PESHAWAR: At least eight persons were martyred and more than 90 sustained injuries when a powerful bomb ripped through a madrassa in Dir Colony locality near the Ring Road here on Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses said the bomb went off after 8:00am when a senior teacher of the Jamia Zubairia, Rahimullah Haqqani, was delivering his lecture, which was also being shown live on social media. Many watching the live video saw the bomb going off when the teacher was explaining a Hadith to the large number of students.

"There was dust and smoke all over while most of those present in the main hall were lying in a pool of blood. Those who remained unharmed rescued the wounded and shifted the bodies out of the destroyed hall," an eyewitness said. Local people also joined the rescue effort.

The copies of the holy Quran and pages of other religious books were scattered and burnt all over the main hall after the explosion. A student of the religious school said around 600 students were enrolled in the seminary. "Eight people died in the blast that was triggered through a time device," Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Ali Gandapur told The News. He added that security was already updated following the recent threat alerts and the police had carried out search operations in the area recently. A source informed that unidentified armed men had attacked the teacher of the seminary, Rahimullah Haqqani, a few years back. A number of students from Afghanistan were also studying in the seminary.

Superintendent of Police (SP), City, Waqar Azeem, told reporters that someone had placed an IED-stuffed bag in the main hall, which went off at around 8:15am. Assistant Inspector General of the bomb disposal unit Shafqat Malik said around five kilogram of powerful explosives were used in the blast. He said they were investigating to find out if the powerful TNT explosives were used in the blast triggered through a timer.

"A large number of ball bearings and shrapnel were used to cause maximum damage," added Shafqat Malik. The officials at the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, said seven bodies and around 76 wounded were brought to the hospital after the blast. One of the wounded expired in the hospital later.

The wounded included over 20 students belonging to Afghanistan as well as young boys from different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a few from Balochistan. Senior police officials and top government functionaries visited the site of the blast. Among them were the Awami National Party (ANP) MPA from Peshawar Samar Haroon Bilour. Her father-in-law Bashir Ahmad Bilour was among those who used to arrive first at the site of any terrorist attack to boost the morale of the people. Bashir Bilour and his son Haroon Bilour both embraced martyrdom in separate suicide attacks.

Haroon’s widow and his son Danial Bilour were lauded by many when they, despite threats, turned up at the site of the blast.

President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, Information Minister Shibli Faraz, KP Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, AML leader Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, head of Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi and other leaders condemned the terror attack on students. "Deeply saddened by the terrorist attack on madrassah in Peshawar. My condolences go to the victims’ families & prayers for early recovery of the injured. I want to assure my nation we will ensure the terrorists responsible for this cowardly barbaric attack are brought to justice asap," said Prime minister Imran Khan.

United Nations, Unicef and diplomatic community in Islamabad also condemned the blast. “The United Nations family in Pakistan stands together with all in Pakistan in shock and grief after the heinous attack today on the Jamia Zubairia Madrassa in Peshawar where children also take classes,” said a press release.

The diplomatic community in the federal capital also condemned the bomb blast. Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, Bahrain’s Ambassador Muhammad Ebrahim Muhammad Abdulqader and Iran’s Ambassador Muhammad Ali Hosseini are among the significant envoys posted in Islamabad who have condemned the deplorable incident in the strongest words and maintained that terrorism couldn’t be tolerated since it is source of threat to peace of the region and world at large.