Suicide bomber kills 38 including senior police officers and four Hazara policemen

Quetta – Aug 8, 2013

A suicide bombing at the funeral prayer of SHO* City Police Station, Mohibullah, has killed at least 38 policemen, including senior police officers, and wounded at least 50 in the terrorist-infested city of Quetta -the provincial capital of restive state of Balochistan- in Pakistan.

The funeral prayer was held at a mosque located at Police Headquarters known as Police Lane. According to Bomb disposal squad, at least 10 kgs of explosives, including ball bearing (for maximum damage), were used in the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of yet.

The slain SHO* of City Police Station -whose funeral prayers was being offered- was killed earlier by unknown terrorists on Airport Road in Killi Alamo when he, his four children, and two police guards came under fire while going for Eid* shopping. All four children and two police guards sustained injuries, one child and both police guards are reported in critical condition.

Details of attack on SHO of City Police Station

Senior and junior officers killed include (Jang Urdu):

DIG Operations Fayyaz Sumbal
SP Ali Mehr
SPolice Traffic (interim) Anwar Khilji
DSP Headquarters Shams-ur Rahman
DSP Investigation Khaliqdad
Inspector Hazrat Ali
Inspector Aimal Tareen
Inspector Khalid
Inspector Noor Mohammad
Inspector Syed Nazim Kazimi
Inspector Mohammad Arif
Inspector Amir Mohammad
Inspector Ghulam Ali
Inspector Hassanullah
Inspector Shakeel Anwar
Inspector Mehmood
Inspector Ghulam Hussain
Inspector Mohammad Ali
Inspector Zafar Ali

Hazara Policemen killed:

According to Hazara news paper, Awaz Nasle Nau, at least four Hazara policemen are also among those killed. The names are:

Head Constable Amir Hussain (Nauabad)
Head Constable Ghulam Ali (Muhale Abbasia)
Head Constable Muhammad Ali (Khartar road, Momin Abad)
Ibrahim from ATF (Muhale Abbasia)

Misreporting by BBC (this type of information is consistently misreported by most media outlets around the world):

“The province is plagued not just by the Taliban’s insurgency, but also by sectarian in-fighting between Sunnis and Shias …”

Correction to BBC reporting:

There are no infighting between Sunnis and Shias. Both Sunnis (Barelvi, Sufis, etc.) and Shias are killed by Salafi/Wahhabi and Deobandi based terrorist organizations that are mainly funded by Saudi Arabia, UAE, among other wealthy Arab countries in the Middle East.
There are various factions of Taliban. The official Taliban (Mullah Omar group) – responsible for carrying several genocides of Hazaras in Afghanistan killing as many as 20,000 – are under control of the Pakistani establishment. There are no known attacks claimed by Taliban (Mullah Omar group) in Pakistan. By “Taliban,” BBC probably meant Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -the most violent offshoot that frequently targets the Pakistani establishment and civilians.

About Quetta and Balochistan:

Quetta and wider Balochistan is currently the epicenter of the proxy war fought by the major regional and international powers.

The Baloch nationalists are fighting for an independent Balochistan while several Baloch-based vigilante groups are working on behalf of the state going after the nationalists.

The Taliban (Mullah Omar) shura -high command- lives in the government provided safe havens in and around Quetta city.

The Saudi-funded Lashkar-e Jhangvi terrorists -a Deobandi/Salafi based sectarian outfit- is involved in the ongoing genocide of Shias and Hazaras. According to Hazara Organization for Peace and Equality (HOPE), AlQaeda affiliated terrorist groups have thus far claimed responsibility for 141 separate attacks on Hazaras, killing over 1300 and injuring over 3000 [ See Google Map of all 141 attack locations ]. The two Hazara enclaves -Alamdar Road and Hazara Town- are under constant barrage of attacks and armed killers patrol city streets executing Hazaras wherever they find them. Other groups find Hazaras easy target frequently abducting for ransom or to force them to sell their valuable businesses for pennies. Currently the 600,000 peaceful Hazara community cannot leave the roughly 4 to 5 mile radius in either of the enclaves. They are frequently targeted during their movement between the two enclaves located in opposite end of the city.

The Tehreek-e Taliban (TTP), dominates the Pushtun belt (Quetta – Chaman) and is considered a major ally of LEJ and Taliban (Mullah Omar).

The situation is currently out of the hands of the Police and State Government in Balochistan. The Federal Government and its elite security agencies have shown little appetite to go after the terrorist hubs adding to the allegations that they are fully complicit in carrying on with the proxy war of others on Pakistani soil.

Footnote:

Eid Ul Fitr – celebration to mark the end of holy month of Ramzan
SHO – Stationed House Officer – in charge of a Police precinct
DSP – Deputy Superintendent Police – in charge of two police precincts
SP – Superintendent – Ranked above DSP
DIG – Deputy Inspector General – second in command of all police force in the city
IG – Inspector General – Commander of police forces

Sources: