ISLAMABAD, 19 February 2007 — Security forces yesterday rounded up 55 suspects in connection with the courtroom suicide bombing in Quetta that left 16 people dead including a senior civil judge on Saturday.
Raids were carried out on Saturday night and yesterday in localities where mostly Afghans live. Police sources said those detained were being questioned by security agencies. The detainees included members of sectarian outfits and some Afghan refugees, they added.
Inspector General of Balochistan Police Tariq Masood Khosa told Arab News the raids will continue till the masterminds behind the suicide bombing are arrested.
Chief of Quetta Police Raho Khan Brohi said, “We will investigate the detainees to determine whether anyone among them has any link with the incident.” The men were picked up in separate raids across Quetta late Saturday but no one was a suspect or formally arrested in the case, Brohi said.
“Afghans have been involved in previous such attacks here. I cannot rule out their involvement,” said Jam Mohammed Yousuf, the chief minister of Balochistan, on Saturday. “We don’t have any evidence to prove it,” he added.
The suicide bomber “entered the courtroom on foot and he immediately exploded himself,” Yousuf said. The blast killed Judge Abdul Wahid, five lawyers and some of the relatives of prisoners who were on trial, Yousuf said.
Some 2,500 people attended the judge’s funeral yesterday, Quetta Mayor Mir Maqbool Ahmed Lehri told the Associated Press. Police have recovered the head and other body parts of the suspected bomber, and the remains have been sent to a hospital near the capital Islamabad for DNA tests, an intelligence official said yesterday.
The suspect, a man who appears to be in his late 30s, had curly hair and a short beard, the official said, without speculating on the man’s nationality. The court compound is located near police and provincial government offices in Quetta.
“The incident appears to be a targeted attack on government installations or functionaries of the criminal justice system as part of a reaction against the government’s firm resolve to combat terrorism and sabotage in the country,” a police statement said. The government has announced a reward of two million rupees (about $33,300) for information leading to the arrest of the culprits involved in the bombing.
In another incident two policemen and two prisoners were killed in Dera Ghazi Khan when their van was ambushed. Those killed were constables Mukhtar Hussain and Habibullah Wahucha and prisoners Allah Bux and Nabahu. Police said Jitani, one of the prisoners who survived the ambush, was linked to a notorious gang of arms smugglers.
Tehran Summons Pak Ambassador
Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran Shafqat Saeed was summoned by the Iranian Foreign Office yesterday. Iranian authorities expressed concern over a bomb blast that took place in Zahidan near Pakistan’s border.
Pakistan opposes any attack on Iran. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told Hum TV yesterday, “We are aware of the massive US naval buildup in the Gulf that is indicative of some future activity. What could be the motive is anyone’s guess.”
Pakistan-India Talks
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told Arab News yesterday Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri will New Delhi on Feb. 21 for talks. During his three-day visit Kasuri will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
