| Death toll in Parachinar blasts mounts to 57 * Ansarul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack
PESHAWAR: The death toll from twin suicide attacks at a busy marketplace in northwest Pakistan has risen to 57, officials said on Saturday.
The Friday attacks at the bazaar in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal district on Pakistan-Afghanistan border, were the deadliest to hit the country during the holy month of Ramazan.
Earlier, officials had put the death toll at 51, and said that 22 of the victims had died instantaneously. "The death toll from the suicide attacks has now risen to 57," a senior administration official in Kurram, Riaz Mehsud, told AFP. "At least 206 people sustained injuries in the attacks and the condition of 14 injured is critical," Mehsud said. "We are still compiling data of the injured people, as many of them had been shifted to Peshawar and Kohat."
Another senior local administration official, Muhammad Asghar Khan, also confirmed the new death toll. The explosions sent handcarts flying as shoppers bought food to open their fasts at sunset. Police spokesman Fazal Naeem Khan told INP that one bomb was believed to have been planted on a motorcycle. The second bomb was detonated about four minutes after the first one, about 400 yards away from the initial blast site, said government official Javed Ali. However, Parachinar administration officials told AFP that both the blasts were carried out by suicide bombers, who walked into the crowded market. "We found many body parts, including parts of the suicide bombers. There was blood and human flesh at the blasts site," Mehsud had said on Friday.
A witness, Amjad Hussain, said a large number of tribesmen were busy shopping mostly for eatables for breaking their fast when the blast took place. "I saw people running for their lives when the first blast took place in one corner of the bazaar. Just then another blast occurred. The next thing I saw was human bodies and the injured lying all over the place," he said. Another local tribesman, Gulfat Hussain, said many people died before they could be shifted to hospital due to lack of immediate medical care. "Announcements were made from loudspeakers in the mosques, appealing to the people to come to hospital and donate blood for the injured people," he said. The area where the bombers struck is mainly inhabited by Shias, but officials said they could not immediately identify the victims. Kurram is frequently the scene of sectarian violence.
The country is battling a Taliban-led domestic insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel since 2007. The victims of the twin suicide blasts were laid to rest on Saturday. Markets in Parachinar remained closed, as three days of mourning is being observed.
A previously unknown group called Ansarul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. "We plan more similar attacks against Shias in Pakistan to seek revenge for the brutalities of Shias against Sunnis in Syria and Iraq," Abu Baseer, who identified himself as a spokesman for the group, told Reuters by telephone. agencies |
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