By Staff Reporter
SWAT: At least 14 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of a police station in Swat Valley on Sunday, in an attack that struck as hundreds gathered nearby to protest against a resurgence of militant violence in the district.
The bomber attempted to force his way into Kabal police station, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but was intercepted by an officer at the main entrance and detonated his explosives at the gate, according to police accounts of the attack.
The toll climbed steadily through the day as officials issued a succession of updates. Swat police spokesperson Nasir Iqbal Karimi said that 14 people had died. Bilal Ahmad Faizi, spokesperson for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Rescue 1122 service, gave the same figure, saying nine bodies had been taken to Saidu Sharif Central Hospital while doctors at Kabal Hospital had confirmed five further deaths. Earlier in the day, Swat’s deputy inspector general of police, Fida Hussain, had put the toll at seven dead, including four police officers, and 20 wounded, in remarks to media.
The blast struck within earshot of Kabal Chowk, an intersection where hundreds of residents had assembled for a demonstration against the wave of militancy that has swept the valley in recent months. Witnesses said the explosion went off as the final speaker was addressing the crowd, sending panicked demonstrators scattering. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack by Sunday evening.
Umar Khan, Swat’s district police officer, said the force remained on high alert in the aftermath. “Security forces have cordoned off the area, and an investigation is underway to collect further evidence,” he said.
Deputy Inspector General Hussain said the police station sits close to a police lines facility and other government buildings considered sensitive, and that preliminary assessments suggested four officers had been seriously hurt in the blast alongside two civilians.
Rescue 1122 said 13 ambulances and more than 45 personnel had been deployed to the scene, treating more than 15 injured people and ferrying them to hospitals across the district as the operation continued into the evening. The wounded were taken chiefly to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital, while security forces sealed off the surrounding streets and began a search operation.
Sunday’s rally had drawn residents from across Swat to demand that the government restore order to a valley that has seen recurring bloodshed since the Pakistani Taliban’s insurgency began regaining ground in the region. Speakers who addressed the crowd before the bombing accused the authorities of cracking down on peaceful citizens while militants operated with relative freedom in Swat’s mountainous fringes, saying fighters had openly circulated propaganda videos on social media without facing consequences.
“Our children deserve education, and our families deserve to live in peace,” one speaker told the gathering, according to those present. “We have witnessed years of bloodshed. Our mothers, sisters, and daughters have suffered immensely, and we do not want another generation of widows and orphans.”
Organisers had framed the protest around a single demand: an end to the militancy that has repeatedly convulsed the valley since the Taliban were driven out of Swat by a Pakistani military offensive in 2009. Speakers warned that continued insecurity risked provoking wider public unrest, pointing to recent protest movements elsewhere as evidence of how quickly public patience could run out.
Sunday’s bombing came hours after a separate explosion near a toll plaza on the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway wounded two police officers in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It followed a militant assault three days earlier on a police checkpoint in Hangu that killed nine officers, part of a marked escalation in violence across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Figures from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies show the province, excluding its merged tribal districts, recorded 154 terrorism-related deaths in July, up 105 per cent on the 75 recorded the previous month.
The bloodshed reflects a deepening insurgency by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan across the country’s northern border provinces. Islamabad has repeatedly attributed the violence to militants operating from havens across the border in Afghanistan, an accusation the Taliban administration in Kabul denies. The dispute has strained relations between the two governments to breaking point, fuelling cross-border air strikes that Pakistan says are aimed at militant targets on Afghan soil.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, condemned Sunday’s attack and said the sacrifices of police officers and soldiers fighting the militancy were a source of pride for the country. “Terrorists cannot demoralise the nation with cowardly attacks,” he said in a statement, adding that those hostile to peace would not be allowed to succeed.
The province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, also condemned the bombing and said he had requested a report from the provincial police chief. He offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying: “The elements hostile to peace will never be allowed to succeed in their nefarious intentions.” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s health minister, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, extended condolences to the bereaved and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
