ISLAMABAD, 23 December 2007 — Pakistani security agencies said yesterday they have arrested four persons from Torangzai, an area of district Charsadda in the suicide bombing that killed 56 people but missed the target, a close ally of President Pervez Musharraf.
The announcement came as grisly new details emerged about the attack, which saw the bomber pack his suicide vest with ball-bearings to inflict as many casualties as possible. Friday’s bombing, one of the worst suicide attacks in Pakistan’s history, targeted former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, who led a government crackdown on Islamic militants.
According to sources, the arrests were made in the Bambukhel Mosque of Torangzai, where a large number of Afghan nationals were residing. Forensic scientists have been combing the remains of the explosive device and the victims, who were part of a large crowd offering prayers for Eid Al-Adha.
An Islamic school in a nearby village was also raided and seven students arrested, reports say. “We have arrested several people,” said one of the officials, who asked not to be named. “We have made important progress in the investigation and we hope to hunt down culprits.”
The attack was condemned by the United Nations and the United States, which counts Musharraf as a pivotal ally in its “war on terror” campaign against Islamic militancy. The violence comes as Pakistan prepares for a general election next month.
“There were blood and body parts everywhere... People were running. Some people were injured in the chaos,” said Iqbal Hussain, a police officer in charge of security at the mosque.
After the victims and dozens of wounded were removed from the mosque complex, police and forensic scientists began carefully sifting through the rubble, as well as the bloody shoes and clothes left behind. Musharraf later issued a statement ordering the security forces to “track down the masterminds behind this abhorrent act.”
“No Muslim could even think of committing such a heinous crime,” Caretaker Interior Minister retired Lt. Gen. Hamid Nawaz said here yesterday.
“A handful of extremists were bent upon forcing their way of distorted thinking on the vast majority of moderate and practicing Muslims, which was totally unacceptable,” he added.
A counterintelligence source told Arab News the likeliest suspects are pro-Taleban militants, who have stepped up attacks against the government in retaliation for operations against them in the border areas near Afghanistan.
