Taliban suicide bombers target gov't office, killing 50 in Pakistan

By Jamil Bhatti

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec. 6, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Twin suicide bomb blasts killed at least 50 people and injured over 120 others on Monday afternoon in Pakistan's northwestern Mohmand tribal agency, officials and witnesses said.

Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed the responsibility for the attacks, officials told Xinhua.

Two suicide bombers attacked the office of the Political Agent (PA), or the administration chief in Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, regional official Shams-ul-Islam said.

At the time of attacks, more than 200 tribal elders and officials were present in the office compound for a general meeting under peace committee for improving the law and order situation in the area, he said.

Both suicide bombers, wearing uniform of the local police Frontier Constabulary (FC), used motorcycles to reach the PA office in the regional headquarters.

On the way to office no police personal stopped them for checking as they were wearing the FC uniform. The first suicide bomber reached the big lawn of the compound and exploded himself among the people sitting on ground for meeting.

According to eyewitnesses, almost one minute after the first blast took place, another suicide bomber entered the building and tried to reach the blast site for a second attack as a lot of people were busy in rescue work. Police guard stopped him but he detonated his explosive jacket before reaching the target when the police arrested him.

Emergency had been declared in the headquarters hospital of the Ghalanai. Dr. Shaad Muhammad, the head of medical team in the hospital, told Xinhua that more than 100 people had been brought to hospital among whom 50 were dead and others injured.

Muhammad said that most of the injured were in critical condition and the severely injured will be shifted to Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Two important tribal elders, Malik Salim Khan and Malik Kachkol, reportedly have been killed while assistant administrator Roshan Khan was injured in the attacks, sources said.

Witnesses said that pro-government tribal elders, lobbying against Taliban militants, were holding a jirga council with the officials at the time of the attacks. They said that several members of the peace committee were among the victims.

After the second suicide attack, many rooms of the compound had also been collapsed down which also damaged the official data and injured many staff members.

Shortly after the attack, security forces reached the site, cordoned off the area and imposed curfew in the region.

Mohmand Political Agent Amjad Ali Khan told media that bombers used live bullets in their explosive materials which raised the damages. Khan thought that he might be the target but luckily, at the time of attack, he was not present in the office.

"We know who these terrorists are, they are now trying to survive in the area by these filthy acts, they had lost their war after we started military operation against them two and half years ago," Khan said.

It was the second major suicide attack in the area in the last five months. In July 2010, a Taliban suicide bomber killed nearly 100 people in Mohmand Agency when he detonated himself in the office of local administrator near a commercial area.

Mohmand Agency is located on the main road between Peshawar and Bajaur tribal region, once the stronghold of Taliban militants.

Officials believe that Taliban militants, who fled the Bajaur region after the military operation, took shelter in the mountainous areas of Mohmand Agency and now they are materializing their ill planes from mountains.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the suicide attacks and showed their commitment against the terrorism.

The prime minister declared it as an inhuman and brutal act of the militants who have no regard for any religion, the PM office said. Deploring the loss of precious lives in the blast, he ordered for provision of immediate and best medical facilities to the injured.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Taliban claims Pakistan blasts; 50 dead

Published: Dec. 6, 2010 at 12:31 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 6, 2010 (UPI) --

Two explosions at a government office in northwest Pakistan killed 50 people, and the Taliban claimed responsibility.

Umar Khalid, leader of the Pakistani Taliban in the Mohmand tribal area, told CNN that local people had been warned against joining the government side. "We will continue to attack all pro-government officials and their supporters," he said.

In what appeared to be a suicide attack, the bombers struck a local administration compound in Ghalalnai, near the Afghan border, Geo News reported.

More than 100 people were thought to have been inside the compound, where government officials, tribal elders and anti-Taliban militia members were meeting, officials said.

Among those killed was Haji Kachkol Khan, a senior leader of the local "peace committee," said Shamas Ul Islam, another government official.

Taliban claim responsibility for Pakistan blasts that killed 50

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 6, 2010 10:16 a.m. EST

Death toll at 50, more than 70 people injured Taliban claim responsibility for blasts The blast goes off before a meeting between officials and a volunteer militia It occurs in Mohmand Agency in the country's tribal region

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) --

The Taliban claimed responsibility Monday for two explosions targeting a government building in Pakistan's tribal region, a Taliban leader said.

The blasts killed 50 people and injured at least 70 others, according to Shamas Ul Islam, a senior government official in Mohmand Agency.

Umar Khalid, head of the Pakistani Taliban in Mohmand Agency, said pamphlets had been distributed in the area 20 days ago warning members of peace committees or Lashkars (tribal militias) to abandon any efforts to join the government in fighting militants or face "consequences."

"We will continue to attack all pro-government officials and their supporters who try to join any peace committees or Lashkars," Khalid said.

The blasts occurred as government officials were about to meet with members of a volunteer militia group established to fight militants in the area, said Maqsood Amin, another senior government official in Mohmand Agency.

Among those killed in the blasts was Haji Kachkol Khan, a senior leader of the peace committeee, Islam said.

Amin said two suicide bombers were responsible for the blasts. One detonated inside the building and another outside the building's gate, he said.

The explosions occurred in the agency's headquarters of Ghalanai, Pakistan. A curfew has been imposed in Ghalanai as a preventive measure, Islam said.

The victims were taken to a local hospital after the blast, said Mohammad Zafar, a senior medical officer.

Monday's attacks were not the first time anti-Taliban and pro-government militias have been targeted in Pakistan. The attacks have been increasing over the past year, but Monday's was one of the deadliest attacks this year. A November 5 suicide attack targeting a mosque in Dera Adam Khel, where locals had formed an anti-Taliban militia, killed 67 people. In July, another suicide attack killed more than 100 people, also in Mohmand Agency.

Mohmand is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies along the 1,500-mile border that Pakistan shares with Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military has been battling insurgents in the area for some time.

The attacks underscore that when locals decide to take a stand against the Taliban, there are sometimes deadly consequences. The Taliban usually warns locals against taking such actions, as they did in Monday's attacks. The Pakistani government has said that such suicide attacks are a sign that the Taliban is growing desperate and becoming more aware that Pakistanis are taking a stand against them.

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan condemned the attacks. "While details of these suicide attacks are still being verified, it is clear this vicious crime killed and wounded many innocent people," the statement said. "Our thoughts and sympathies are with the individuals and families affected by these inhumane acts."