40 killed including 2 journalists, 10 Govt officials, Lashkar members, over 70 injured in twin suicide blasts in Ghalanai ---TTP claimed responsibilit

40 killed including 2 journalists, 10 Govt officials, Lashkar members, over 70 injured in twin suicide blasts in Ghalanai

---TTP claimed responsibility of the attack

By Mohammad Saleem Mehsud

MOHMAND AGENCY, Dec 06: Forty people including two journalists, Peace Lashkar members, ten government officials were killed and over 70 others sustained injures in two suicide blasts occurred at a political agent’s office in Ghalanai area of Mohmand Agency, official sources said.

Banned outfit Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility of the attack.

Political administration confirmed that two journalists identified as Abdul Wahab and Pervaiz Khan were also killed in the twin suicide blasts.

“The attack was planned to target members of Jirga who were present at political agent’s office,” sources said adding that at least 300 elders and members of Haleemzai tribe were attending scheduled meeting with Political Agent Mohmand Agency Amjad Ali Khan when the twin suicide blasts took place.

“There were two bombers came on foot. The first blew himself up inside the political administration office while the second one set off explosives when guards caught him at the entrance,” official sources said that the attackers were wearing the uniform of Kasadar force and carried out attacks when mostly people were offering their prayer.

Security forces have cordoned off the entire area and started search to nab the facilitator. Curfew has been imposed in the area to conduct search and also to avert the threat of another expected attack.

Rescue activities were kicked off to recover the dead and the injured from the debris of damaged buildings. Tractors and light machinery were used in the rescue activities. The officials said that entire blast site area has completely been searched and there was no possibility of recovery of any dead or injured.

Ambulances were sent from Peshawar to Ghalanai to ferry the injured to Peshawar as Gahlanai and Subqadar an adjoining area lacks medical facility to tackle serious wounded. The injured were shifted to Leady Ready Hospital Peshawar where emergency was proclaimed by the district administration as information of the blast were received.

The seriously injured were shifted to LRH for medical treatment while some of the injured succumbed to their injuries in hospital. The ambulances engaged in transporting

the wounded to LRH were hindered in their way owing to traffic congestion in Peshawar city.

Tehsildar Ghalanai Sham-ul-Islam has confirmed the death of 30 people and said that twin suicide blasts damaged the nearby buildings situated in the political administration compound.

Eyewitnesses said “we were in the office as usually people of various tribesmen came to the political agency office for redressal of the problems relating to their respective areas when the twin suicide blasts took place with deafening sound”.

“When we came out of the office after the blasts, large number of dead bodies were lying in a pool of blood on the ground and injured were screaming for help”, said the eye witnesses.

Law enforcement agencies officials said that suicide attackers used at least 12kg explosive in each of the vests stripped to their bodies and they used bullets in the vests instead of barring balls which was usually used in such suicide attacks.

Earlier, in July 2010, a similar attack on a political agent’s office situated in Yakaghund area of Mohmand Agency had claimed lives of 100 people and several sustained injured.

Information Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iftikhar Hussain has visited LRH to inquire about the health of the suicide blasts victims and condemned the coward attack vociferously. Hussain demanded for cooperation between the three coalition partners, Pakistan, Afghanistan and United States engaged in the war against terror to share intelligence information and struck the terrorist’s hideouts without any delay.

Citing the US intelligence reports, he said that scourge of terrorism likely to continue for at least 14 years in Pakistan, taking heavy toll of innocent lives. “With the grace of almighty Allah we will get rid of yoke of terrorism soon,” Iftikhar vowed.

He said that KP government will go to every nook and corner to chase the terrorists and will destroy the terror plots with the help of the masses.

Meanwhile, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in their separate messages have strongly condemned the twin suicide blasts in Mohmand Agency. They declared it as an inhuman and brutal act of the militants who have no regard for innocent lives and any religion. They ordered the Khyber Pakhtoon government to ensure for provision of immediate and best medical facilities to the wounded persons.