دیر میں عوامی نیشنل پارٹی کی ریلی پر خود کش حملہ۔ 52 ہلاک

from The Nation - LOWER DIR – Fifty-two workers of the ruling Awami National Party were killed while more than 100 others got injured when a suicide bomber entered Rest House Timergara and blew himself up on Monday in a public gathering organised by ANP to celebrate the renaming of the province. Eyewitnesses told TheNation that the suicide bomber rushed to reach the stage of hall where President of the ANP Dir Lower Haji Bahadar Khan was delivering speech. More than 500 party activists and district leadership were attending the celebration. One of the special police personnel on duty caught the bomber and tried to overpower him but he blew himself up leaving 52 workers of the party dead and injuring more than 85 including two local journalists and five police officials, sources informed.

The blast spread panic and fear in the area while security forces cordoned off the area. Those who died on the spot included Sarwar Khan, Mehmood Jan, Wasif Khan, Fateh Noor Khan, Saeedullah, Azizur Rahman, Sher Zamin, Samiur Rahman, Muhammad Khan, Fazal Rabi, Ibrar Ahmad, Muha-mmad Riaz, Khan Wali, Umar, Saleem Khan, Farmanullah, Abdul Wahid Jan, Younas Khan, Mehtab Gul and Muhammad Roz Khan, while 16 bodies were not identified till filing of this report.

One of the speakers of the function Karimullah while talking to this reporter after the blast said the leadership of ANP remained unhurt in the blast while most of the victims were poor party workers.

The district and hospital administration declared emergency in Timergara and sealed all routes leading to District Headquarter Hospital Timergara. The DIG Malakand Qazi Jamil, DCO Dir Lower Ghulam Muhammad, DPO Mumtaz Zarin and Dir Scouts’ officers visited the hospital and directed the administration to provide every possible treatment to the injured people.

The DIG told that back of the militants had been broken that was why they had been targeting such innocent people during public gatherings. The DCO Dir Lower Ghulam Muhammad said helicopter had been called in to shift some of the critical injured to Peshawar. Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Muhammad Wakil said that 36 dead had been brought to the hospital while the number of injured was more than 50. One of the hospital doctors said that five of the critical injured were referred to Peshawar hospitals.

The District President of Temirgara of ANP Sultan Zeb is also included among the dead person while a brother of Senator Zahid Khan was reportedly injured in the blast. The NWFP Governor and Chief Minister strongly condemned the explosion and termed it a cowardice act of terrorism. 

Inquiry has been ordered.

Agencies add: The ANP said it organised the meeting to celebrate plans to rename North West Frontier Province - Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as laid out in a package of constitutional reform being debated in the federal parliament. The function was at its last stages when the bomber sneaked through the participants and detonated explosives wrapped around his body, killing 44 persons instantly. “It was a suicide blast as the bomber before detonating himself up shouted ‘Hat Jao’. The last speech of ANP Dir Lower President Bahadar Khan was in progress when the bomber blew himself up,” the police said. 

It was a massive blast.