The mosque was near the city of Peshawar with 1,000 people attending to offer prayers for the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival. In an unrelated incident, Mr. Ahsan who is a leading anti-government lawyer was released from house arrest for the three days of Eid only to be arrested again a few hours later.
Aftab Sherpao, the interior minister of Pakistan’s outgoing government was amongst the congregation. However, he was not hurt in the blast. But, his son was amongst the 100 other people that were injured as a result of the blasts.
Recently, the state of emergency imposed was lifted on Saturday as President Musharraf said that the threat posed by Islamic militants had been contained. There have been suicide attacks within the last week.
The violent attacks come as the country prepares for a general election in January. According to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the latest bombing indicates that Al-Qaeda is focusing on attacking Pakistan’s government.
According to Sherpao’s spokesman, Aftab Sherpao was the target. Some of those died were his police bodyguards. If that’s the case, it would be the second attack on Mr. Sherpao in eight months.
Mr. Sherpao was Pakistan’s top security official that led the campaign against Islamic militants. President Musharraf condemned the attacks as distorted thinking on the part of the militants.
According to the police, the bomb was filled with nails and ball bearings.
“We were all saying prayers when this huge explosion occurred. It almost blew out our ear drums,” according to Shakukat Ali, one of the witnesses.
According to correspondents, it’s uncommon for militants to attack during Eid.
So far, the attacks are blamed on militants who are pro-Taliban retaliating for what happened in Afghanistan.
“Al-Qaeda seems to have turned its face toward Pakistan and attacks on the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people,” Robert Gates said.
Leave Your Comments