28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing
Encyclopedia
The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing occurred in Peshawar
, Pakistan, when a car bomb was detonated in a Mina Bazar (Market for women and children) of the city. The bomb killed 137 people and injured more than 200 others, making it the deadliest attack in Peshawar's history. Pakistani government officials believe the Taliban to be responsible, but both Taliban and Al-Qaeda sources have denied involvement in the attack. The incident drew harsh international criticism.
parked outside of the city's Meena Bazar. The bomb was said to contain 150 kilograms (330.7 lb) of explosives, according to bomb squad worker Shafqatullah Malik. The blast caused widespread fires among stores selling flammable fabrics, which caused further damage and casualties; the bomb was stated to be the deadliest since the 2007 Karachi bombing
, and the worst in Peshawar's history. The death toll was expected to rise, from an original estimate of 90, as rescuers and civilians sifted through the rubble of a four-story building that was collapsed by the blast; the explosion also collapsed a mosque and damaged four other four-story buildings. Among the dead was a female teacher doing winter shopping for her young children. Many of the wounded were seriously injured and would later succumb to their injuries. According to Mohammad Usman, whose shoulder was wounded, "There was a deafening sound and I was like a blind man for a few minutes... I heard women and children crying and started to help others. There was the smell of human flesh in the air." The location of the bombing, Meena Bazar, usually draws low-income female shoppers.
Pakistani authorities believed that the Taliban were responsible for orchestrating the attack, but the group has denied any involvement. Information minister Hussain stated that the government believed the bombing to be a response to a recent anti-militant operation in South Waziristan
.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
, who was visiting Pakistan, condemned the attacks, saying that the perpetrators were on the "losing side of history". Clinton added, "We commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security, we will give you the help that you need in order to achieve your goal." Meanwhile, nearby Lady Reading Hospital
went into a state of emergency as the injured were transferred there; medical officials pleaded with the public to donate blood for the blast's victims.
Medical staff complained that the authorities were not adequately prepared to deal the repercussions of an attack with so many casualties. According to Muzamil Hussain, a responder, "There are a lot of wounded people. We tried to help them but there were no ambulances so we took the victims on rickshaws and other vehicles." Muzamil Hussain added that, "There were no police. The police and government didn't help us, the police even opened fire on us." Another man claimed that there was only a pretense of security, and that the government was actually unable to stop such attacks. Government officials acknowledged Peshawar's lack of ability to prepare for terrorist attacks, and Azam Khan, the city's senior-most civil servant, stated that, "The police strength of Peshawar cannot secure everything," and explained how the militants had penetrated a "three-ring police cordon" around the city.
Sahibzada Anees, Peshawar's deputy coordination officer, cited the city's lack of trained firefighters, and the inability to move excavating machinery into areas where people had been buried alive because of the city's narrow streets. A local government official added that crowds were hindering rescue efforts, stating how, "People have thronged the scene... They have made it difficult for us to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies and those still alive." All shops in the area were closed after the blast. An inquiry was ordered by NWFP
Chief Minister Amir Hyder Khan Hoti.
As many as 60 people were considered unaccounted for as of 30 October.
condemned the attack while Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani
denounced the attacks and directed the government officials to provide the best possible treatment to the injured. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the violence would not break his government's will to fight back. The resolve and determination will not be shaken," Qureshi said. "People are carrying out such heinous crimes – they want to shake our resolve. I want to address them: We will not buckle. We will fight you. We will fight you because we want peace and stability in Pakistan." NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain
said, "Terrorism cannot be described as jihad as our religion does not allow taking lives of innocent people".
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, Pakistan, when a car bomb was detonated in a Mina Bazar (Market for women and children) of the city. The bomb killed 137 people and injured more than 200 others, making it the deadliest attack in Peshawar's history. Pakistani government officials believe the Taliban to be responsible, but both Taliban and Al-Qaeda sources have denied involvement in the attack. The incident drew harsh international criticism.
Bombing
According to the North West Frontier Province's information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, most of the victims were women and children, in the woman-exclusive Peepal Mindi shopping section of Peshawar. The blast originated from a car bombCar bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
parked outside of the city's Meena Bazar. The bomb was said to contain 150 kilograms (330.7 lb) of explosives, according to bomb squad worker Shafqatullah Malik. The blast caused widespread fires among stores selling flammable fabrics, which caused further damage and casualties; the bomb was stated to be the deadliest since the 2007 Karachi bombing
2007 Karachi bombing
The 2007 Karachi bombing of October 18, 2007 in Karachi, Pakistan, was an attack on a motorcade carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The bombing occurred two months before she was assassinated...
, and the worst in Peshawar's history. The death toll was expected to rise, from an original estimate of 90, as rescuers and civilians sifted through the rubble of a four-story building that was collapsed by the blast; the explosion also collapsed a mosque and damaged four other four-story buildings. Among the dead was a female teacher doing winter shopping for her young children. Many of the wounded were seriously injured and would later succumb to their injuries. According to Mohammad Usman, whose shoulder was wounded, "There was a deafening sound and I was like a blind man for a few minutes... I heard women and children crying and started to help others. There was the smell of human flesh in the air." The location of the bombing, Meena Bazar, usually draws low-income female shoppers.
Pakistani authorities believed that the Taliban were responsible for orchestrating the attack, but the group has denied any involvement. Information minister Hussain stated that the government believed the bombing to be a response to a recent anti-militant operation in South Waziristan
Operation Rah-e-Nijat
The Operation Rah-e-Nijat was a Pakistani military operation against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas that began on June 19, 2009; a major ground offensive was subsequently launched on October 17...
.
Response
United States Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, who was visiting Pakistan, condemned the attacks, saying that the perpetrators were on the "losing side of history". Clinton added, "We commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security, we will give you the help that you need in order to achieve your goal." Meanwhile, nearby Lady Reading Hospital
Lady Reading Hospital
The Lady Reading Hospital is located at Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. It is one of the most important Post Graduate Medical Institute in Pakistan. It is also called loye huspatal and Gernali Huspatal...
went into a state of emergency as the injured were transferred there; medical officials pleaded with the public to donate blood for the blast's victims.
Medical staff complained that the authorities were not adequately prepared to deal the repercussions of an attack with so many casualties. According to Muzamil Hussain, a responder, "There are a lot of wounded people. We tried to help them but there were no ambulances so we took the victims on rickshaws and other vehicles." Muzamil Hussain added that, "There were no police. The police and government didn't help us, the police even opened fire on us." Another man claimed that there was only a pretense of security, and that the government was actually unable to stop such attacks. Government officials acknowledged Peshawar's lack of ability to prepare for terrorist attacks, and Azam Khan, the city's senior-most civil servant, stated that, "The police strength of Peshawar cannot secure everything," and explained how the militants had penetrated a "three-ring police cordon" around the city.
Sahibzada Anees, Peshawar's deputy coordination officer, cited the city's lack of trained firefighters, and the inability to move excavating machinery into areas where people had been buried alive because of the city's narrow streets. A local government official added that crowds were hindering rescue efforts, stating how, "People have thronged the scene... They have made it difficult for us to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies and those still alive." All shops in the area were closed after the blast. An inquiry was ordered by NWFP
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
Chief Minister Amir Hyder Khan Hoti.
As many as 60 people were considered unaccounted for as of 30 October.
Reaction
: President Asif Ali ZardariAsif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
condemned the attack while Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yousuf Raza Gilani is the current prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the support of its coalition partners, Pakistan Muslim League , Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on 22 March 2008...
denounced the attacks and directed the government officials to provide the best possible treatment to the injured. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the violence would not break his government's will to fight back. The resolve and determination will not be shaken," Qureshi said. "People are carrying out such heinous crimes – they want to shake our resolve. I want to address them: We will not buckle. We will fight you. We will fight you because we want peace and stability in Pakistan." NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain
Mian Iftikhar Hussain
Mian Iftikhar Hussain from Pabbi, Nowshera is a serving provincial information minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. A senior party activist of the Awami National Party and former student leader of the Pakhtun Student Federation...
said, "Terrorism cannot be described as jihad as our religion does not allow taking lives of innocent people".
- Afghan president, Hamid KarzaiHamid KarzaiHamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
, called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to condemn the Peshawar blast. He also expressed grief over loss of innocent lives. - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, who was in Pakistan to discuss the growing number of militant attacks in the country, condemned the attacks, stating that the U.S. would "commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security, we will give you the help that you need in order to achieve your goal."
: Al-Qaeda sent an e-mail to media outlets stating that they do not explode bombs in bazaars and mosques. They said that separate forces, "who want to defame jihad and refugees, are behind the Peshawar bomb blast."
- Tehrik-i-Taliban PakistanTehrik-i-Taliban PakistanTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP...
also condemned the attacks and denied their involvement in the blast. - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moonBan Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
stated that he wanted to "express my outrage at the loss of so many innocent lives, no cause can justify such inhuman and indiscriminate violence."
See also
- List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001
- List of terrorist incidents, 2009