Pakistan Suicide Bombing Death Toll Jumps to 102
The men and women wailed, stood stunned or wearily sifted through the rubble Saturday for bodies, survivors and answers. Only one thing seemed certain: In the end, the two suicide bombers who killed 102 people in this village didn't bother to discriminate among their victims.
Though anti-Taliban tribal elders meeting officials in a government office may have been the target, it was dozens of ordinary civilians in the Mohmand tribal region who bore the brunt of the strike, Pakistan's deadliest this year. Many had come to the site to receive donated food and goods when the bombs went off Friday.
The attack showed that Islamist extremists remain a deadly force along Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan, even when barraged by army offensives or drone-fired U.S. missiles. But such analysis meant little to Adnan Khan, who still could hardly fathom why 10 of his relatives had to die.
"People came here yesterday to receive biscuits and edible oil," the college student said midday Saturday. "I don't know why terrorists killed them."
The attack also wounded 168 people in the village of Yakaghund, which has a population of about 4,000 and lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt and the Khyber-Pakhtoonkwa province. The northwest regions have been dealing with Al-Qaida and Taliban violence for years.
It's a situation the U.S. has watched warily, nudging its allies in Islamabad to clamp down on militants who threaten Western troops across the border in Afghanistan and to destabilize nuclear-armed Pakistan itself.
The attackers Friday detonated their explosives near the office of Rasool Khan, a deputy Mohmand administrator who escaped unharmed. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Akramullah Mohmand called some local journalists late Friday and claimed responsibility, saying the elders were the target. None of those elders were hurt, officials said.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 inmates - ordinary criminals, not militants - to flee, Rasool Khan said.
People on Saturday kept up the search through the piles of brick and rubble left behind. At least 15 people were still believed to be trapped somewhere beneath, said Ibrahim Khan, a local security official who gave the latest casualty tolls.
Sher Afzal, 22, hopes his uncle and cousin are among those missing who may still be alive.
"My uncle came here to collect his national identity card (from a government office), and he is still missing with his son," Afzal said. "We have checked all the hospitals, but we could not trace them."
The Pakistani army has carried out operations in Mohmand, but it has been unable to extirpate the militants. Its efforts to rely on citizen militias to take on the militants have had limited success there, though elders who have been involved in such efforts have often been targeted by militants in Mohmand and elsewhere in the tribal belt.
The Friday attack was the third this year to kill more than 90 people, and it was the worst attack in the country since a car bombing killed 112 people at a crowded market in the main northwest city of Peshawar last October.
Nevertheless, army operations and U.S. missile strikes are believed to have disrupted militants' activities enough to where attacks in the country have decreased this year so far, especially in the northwest. In the last three months of 2009, for instance, more than 500 people were killed in a surge of attacks across the country.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Though anti-Taliban tribal elders meeting officials in a government office may have been the target, it was dozens of ordinary civilians in the Mohmand tribal region who bore the brunt of the strike, Pakistan's deadliest this year. Many had come to the site to receive donated food and goods when the bombs went off Friday.
The attack showed that Islamist extremists remain a deadly force along Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan, even when barraged by army offensives or drone-fired U.S. missiles. But such analysis meant little to Adnan Khan, who still could hardly fathom why 10 of his relatives had to die.
"People came here yesterday to receive biscuits and edible oil," the college student said midday Saturday. "I don't know why terrorists killed them."
The attack also wounded 168 people in the village of Yakaghund, which has a population of about 4,000 and lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt and the Khyber-Pakhtoonkwa province. The northwest regions have been dealing with Al-Qaida and Taliban violence for years.
It's a situation the U.S. has watched warily, nudging its allies in Islamabad to clamp down on militants who threaten Western troops across the border in Afghanistan and to destabilize nuclear-armed Pakistan itself.
The attackers Friday detonated their explosives near the office of Rasool Khan, a deputy Mohmand administrator who escaped unharmed. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Akramullah Mohmand called some local journalists late Friday and claimed responsibility, saying the elders were the target. None of those elders were hurt, officials said.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 inmates - ordinary criminals, not militants - to flee, Rasool Khan said.
People on Saturday kept up the search through the piles of brick and rubble left behind. At least 15 people were still believed to be trapped somewhere beneath, said Ibrahim Khan, a local security official who gave the latest casualty tolls.
Sher Afzal, 22, hopes his uncle and cousin are among those missing who may still be alive.
"My uncle came here to collect his national identity card (from a government office), and he is still missing with his son," Afzal said. "We have checked all the hospitals, but we could not trace them."
The Pakistani army has carried out operations in Mohmand, but it has been unable to extirpate the militants. Its efforts to rely on citizen militias to take on the militants have had limited success there, though elders who have been involved in such efforts have often been targeted by militants in Mohmand and elsewhere in the tribal belt.
The Friday attack was the third this year to kill more than 90 people, and it was the worst attack in the country since a car bombing killed 112 people at a crowded market in the main northwest city of Peshawar last October.
Nevertheless, army operations and U.S. missile strikes are believed to have disrupted militants' activities enough to where attacks in the country have decreased this year so far, especially in the northwest. In the last three months of 2009, for instance, more than 500 people were killed in a surge of attacks across the country.
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God who is claimed to be loving and caring, but in reality if the actions of his followers of all versions of his so called religons are any example, down through history, He/She/It has to be the most diabolically cruel and unjust entity that could possibly exist.
However, of course he/she/it does not exist, being no more than a fabrication to instil fear in those gullible enough to believe without any supporting evidence. in order that a person or persons can achieve political power over them.
If you disagree, no problem, however please be good enough to offer some unambiguous evidence of His/Her/It's existence.
Do we want America's future to be like Pakistan's present? Or Mexico's?
To explain why dangerous and destructive immigration policies remain in place, you might want to look at the scandal that is brewing in Canada over foreign influence on Canadian politicians on matters including, but not restricted to immigration, according to Canada's Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Just google CSIS+FOREIGN INFLUENCE
I'd like to know how many American politicians, public servants, union leaders and journalists on on the take from foreign front organizations to promote the idea of mass immigration or at least ignore the issue? How many of them have links to foreign front organizations linked to China, Saudi Arabia and Mexico to name only three?