 Seventy-six persons were killed and over 100 injured in an apparent suicide attack on a mosque at Peshawar-Torkham Highway during the Friday congregation, eyewitnesses said.
It was one of the worst suicide attacks and authorities said 16 among the dead were security personnel. Intelligence sources, however, put the number of dead at 86 but officials of the political administration were conservative by putting the death toll at 50.
The huge explosion, fourth in Jamrud, reduced the single-storey roadside mosque to rubble. Witnesses said they heard a big explosion that jolted the area just as the Imam (prayer leader) concluded his Friday sermon and the faithful stood up for the Friday prayer.
The dead included the prayer leader and his brother. Four personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) and 12 Khassadars (tribal police). The others were tribesmen belonging to the nearby villages, Pakistani and Afghan civilians travelling between Peshawar and Torkham, and drivers and conductors of trucks carrying goods to neighbouring Afghanistan.
Political administration officials said the number of dead was more than 50. Talking to journalists at the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) in Peshawar, Political Agent Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat said 46 people were killed. However, the administration's control room in Jamrud put the death toll at 50. Some of the wounded were also stated to be in critical condition.
The targeted mosque is located on the roadside between Rekalay, Kufar Tangi and Sur Kamar villages. Locals said six of the dead were from Rekalay village while one hailed from Kufar Tangi.
Hundreds of people from the three villages and Jamrud town rushed to Bagyari on hearing the deafening sound of the blast. Announcements were made through loudspeakers in Jamrud, sited four km from Bagyari, asking the people to reach the blast site to help retrieve the dead and evacuate the injured to hospitals.
There were tragic scenes at the site of the explosion. Many of the dead were mutilated beyond recognition. Rescuers and grief-stricken relatives of the missing and the dead were collecting pieces of bodies in the hope of locating their near and dear ones. A goat killed by the blast was also lying near the destroyed mosque.
The confusion over the exact figure of the dead was primarily due to the fact that the local people quickly shifted bodies of their relatives to their villages. Three unclaimed bodies were brought to the HMC and another seven to the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Peshawar.
Hospital sources said 71 injured were admitted to the KTH, 25 to the HMC and another 10 people were brought to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). Several others with minor injuries were discharged after first aid, KTH Medical Superintendent Dr Khushdil told journalists.
Witnesses said there were more than 200 people in the mosque at the time of the blast. The main hall of the mosque, the veranda and the courtyard were crowded and this was the reason for the unusually high number of casualties.
Bismillah Jan, an FC official performing duty at the security post overlooking the highway, said the blast occurred soon after the Imam concluded his sermon. "I saw a flame leaping from the mosque and heard a deafening sound. I then rushed toward the mosque sited 50 metres away," he recalled. He said initially there weren't many rescuers to remove the faithful trapped under the debris of the collapsed mosque.
Jan reminded that the Khassadar picket just above the mosque had come under a rocket attack by suspected militants about a month back. He and some local tribesmen told The News that four militants were killed in exchange of fire with FC and Khassadars at the Bagyari checkpost one a half month ago. "This may be the Taliban retaliation to avenge the killing of their colleagues," said a Khassadar official at the checkpoint.
According to locals, a 10th class student, Irshad, who had come from his hometown Landikotal to appear in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination at the Higher Secondary School in Jamrud, was among the dead.
Another slain man was identified as Mohsinullah, son of Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Usmanabad in Charsadda district. He was a sub-engineer with a private firm and was offering prayer at the mosque.
The four FC men who lost their lives were identified as Naik Saeed Mulagori, Hawaldar Aulia Khan, Naik Farooq Khattak and cook Hidayat Khattak. Sepoy Dilawar Shalmani and Naik Fayaz of the FC suffered injuries.
Those killed among the Khassadar were Kaptan Khan, Abdullah Jan, Latif, Jan Muhammad, Hashmat Khan, Bahadar Chitrali, Irshad Khan, Zafar Khan, Shahid, Mosam Khan, Maslihat Gul Mulagori, Ziaur Rahman, Fahim, Afsar Khan and Khan Zada.
Their injured colleagues included Jan Akbar, Abdul Malik, Khizar Hayat, Asim and Muqadar Khan. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, a commander of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's Khyber Agency chapter had warned through the media of attacks if the security forces did not vacate the FC checkposts in Jamrud and Landikotal till February 20.
Khassadars at Bagyari told reporters after the blast that a Taliban commander Nazeer Afridi from the Sepah tribe in Bara had issued the warning through letters. Taliban had made it clear they would not allow the Peshawar-Torkham route to be used by vehicles carrying supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan.
It is pertinent to add that suspected Taliban fighters have carried out several attacks against Afghanistan-bound Nato convoys and truck terminals in Peshawar and Khyber Agency in recent months and torched hundreds of trucks and containers.
Meanwhile, some residents and injured belonging to the villages of Rekalay and Kufar Tangi said they saw aircraft flying above the area since Friday morning. They feared the blast at the mosque could have been caused by a missile fired by a US drone.
However, the authorities in Khyber insisted that it was a suicide attack. APP adds from Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the suicide attack and vowed the perpetrators would be brought to justice, according to separate statements issued here. They directed the concerned authorities to investigate into the matter.
President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani also condoled with the families of the deceased. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, Deputy Speaker Faisal Kundi, Chairman Senate, Farooq H. Naek, Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, MQM chief Altaf Hussain and Quaid-e-Milliat Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi also strongly condemned the suicide attack.
They termed it as a cowardly act committed by the enemies of Islam and the country. They said these terrorists are enemies of Islam and humanity as killing innocent civilians has no justification whatsoever. They condoled with the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of the injured.
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