Five PAF personnel among 11 killed in Nowshera blast

Mushtaq ParachaFriday, August 26, 2011
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NOWSHERA: Eleven persons, including five Pakistan Air Force officials, were killed and 25 others sustained injuries when a remote-controlled bomb went off at a restaurant here on Thursday evening.

Sources said the PAF officials had arranged an Iftar party at the Decent Hotel located in the Cantonment Plaza on the Mardan-Nowshera Road when an explosive device, fitted to a kidís tricycle, exploded at 8.20pm. The explosion occurred when the PAF officials and a large number of civilians were sitting down for the Iftar dinner at the hotel.

Some of the dead were identified as Abdul Latif, GE Air, Muhammad Usman, Sub-engineer Abdul Hafeez, Hashim, Shahbaz, Asif, Latifullah and Nazim. The injured included Army Lance Naik Ahmed Iqbal, Sajjad, Bilal and Naveed. The PAF officials who sustained injuries included SAC Muhammad Ali, JT Atif, ST Muqadar and ST Ali.

The dead included five air force men and some civilians. The owner of the hotel and waiters sustained serious injuries in the blast. Sources said the blast was of mild intensity and partially damaged the hotel building and some nearby shops.

The explosion sent a wave of fear among the shoppers and residents and most of the markets were quickly closed down. Soon after the blast, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.

Sources said that the injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Risalpur, the District Headquarters Hospital, Nowshera, and Mardan Medical Complex.

District Police Officer Muhammad Hussain said that it was a remote-controlled bomb fitted to a tricycle. He said following the explosion, the police started a search operation in Peshawar and its outskirts and arrested 22 suspects. Hussain and Liaqat Shabab visited the blast site and supervised the rescue operation.

APP adds: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the Nowshera bomb blast. Expressing deep condolences with the bereaved families, the Prime Minister directed law enforcement agencies to investigate the unfortunate incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

He reiterated the government’s resolve to stamp out the menace of militancy and terrorism from the country. He prayed to god to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage to the victims’ families to bear the irreparable loss with fortitude.

Punjab Chief Minister Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif also condemned the attack and expressed deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of innocent lives. 

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