Blast at Pakistan funeral kills at least 15 mourners
Source: Agencies |
March 12, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 15 mourners, officials said.
The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.
Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Many hundreds have been killed over the last few years.
Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village.
Peshawar deputy commissioner Siraj Ahmad said the explosion killed 15 people and wounded another 37.
The two officials said several of the wounded people were in critical condition.
"We are devastated," said Zahir Khan, 32, weeping while lying in a hospital bed. His elder brother died in the attack. He said they were chatting when the bomb went off. "I never knew I was going to lose my brother forever."
Khan, the politician, comes from the secular-leaning Awami National Party that holds power in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He expressed his party's resolve to continue the struggle against militancy in the country.
"It is a fight for the country's survival," he said.
The Pakistani Taliban have targeted several of its leaders in the past. The ANP party has supported various Pakistani military operations against the militants.
The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.
Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Many hundreds have been killed over the last few years.
Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village.
Peshawar deputy commissioner Siraj Ahmad said the explosion killed 15 people and wounded another 37.
The two officials said several of the wounded people were in critical condition.
"We are devastated," said Zahir Khan, 32, weeping while lying in a hospital bed. His elder brother died in the attack. He said they were chatting when the bomb went off. "I never knew I was going to lose my brother forever."
Khan, the politician, comes from the secular-leaning Awami National Party that holds power in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He expressed his party's resolve to continue the struggle against militancy in the country.
"It is a fight for the country's survival," he said.
The Pakistani Taliban have targeted several of its leaders in the past. The ANP party has supported various Pakistani military operations against the militants.
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