31 Shias killed, 50 wounded in Zainabia mosque blast in Sialkot on Raja Road
01-10-2004
SIALKOT, Oct 1: Twenty-five people were killed and over 50 others wounded when a suspected suicide attacker detonated an explosive device inside a mosque here on Friday.
Violence erupted in the city after the incident, forcing the administration to call out the army.
More than 300 people were in the mosque, adjacent to Imambargah Mistri Abdullah on the Raja Road, when an unidentified youth carrying a briefcase entered the hall, official sources said.
"As soon as he got close to the faithful who were listening to the Juma sermon, the man opened his briefcase and then a huge explosion occurred," police quoted a witness as saying.
Sixteen people died on the spot, including a former deputy speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, and nine others succumbed to injuries in hospitals, said Sialkot district nazim Mian Naeem Javaid and police sources. Some of the critically injured were later shifted to Gujranwala and Lahore.
There was a stampede in the mosque after the blast, which occurred at 1:25pm. It caused a two-foot-deep crater on the floor and left the mosque badly damaged. Windowpanes of some nearby buildings were also shattered.
"There was panic and there was blood and screams all around," said a wounded man. Tension ran high in the city after the blast as mourners, some of them armed, set a police van on fire and threw stones at police and private vehicles, leaving some personnel injured.
They forced major markets to close down and burnt old tyres on key roads, blocking the traffic. They also resorted to aerial firing at some places. Army was then called out to maintain law and order.
In the evening, protesters carrying bodies of several victims held a demonstration on the Sialkot Police Lines ground. They chanted slogans, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits behind the heinous act.
Twenty-one of the dead were identified. They were: former deputy speaker of AJK Legislative Assembly Shaukat Hussain Naqvi, Syed Idrees Ahmad Shehzada, Khadim Hussain, Ghulam Raza, Ikhlaq Hussain, Brig (retd) Muhammad Hanif Jafri, Riaz Hussain Jafri, Asad Abbas, Waqar Ali Jafri, Malik Faiz, Sibtul Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Syed Kara Abbas Kazmi, Tajammul Hussain, Zahirul Hasan Rizvi, Ghulam Raza, Bao Riaz, Riaz Matwalli, Riasat Ali, Faiz Hussain and a 7-year-old, Ali.
Twenty of the injured were stated to be in serious condition. The Sialkot district government declared emergency in all hospitals in the city. The injured were admitted to Allama Iqbal Memorial DHQ Hospital, Sardar Begum Hospital and a number of other hospitals in Sialkot, Daska, Gujranwala and Lahore.
Senior police officials were not sure it was a suicide attack. "It is a possibility, but has to be confirmed," they said. Contingents of police and the elite force had been called from neighbouring districts which were patrolling the city.
Witnesses told Dawn that there were as many as three bombers. They said one terrorist with a briefcase entered the mosque and soon there was a huge explosion. Then two others, who stayed outside the mosque, threw another briefcase near the entrance and fled.
Official sources said there was more than 12kg of explosive material in the second briefcase which was defused by the bomb disposal squad. The explosive device was locally made, they added.
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Sialkot Nazim's office set afire, 200 arrested
02-10-2004
SIALKOT, Oct 2: More police contingents were deployed in the city as violent protests against Friday's bomb blast continued on Saturday with mourners damaging public and private property worth millions. The death toll rose to 31 as six of the wounded died.
Shops and financial institutions were forced to remain closed by the protesters who resorted to aerial firing and burnt tyres at various places.
After the mass funeral, mourners carrying brickbats, sticks and stones attacked offices of the district nazim and set its record section on fire. They hurled stones at the police guarding the offices. Most of the record was reduced to ashes, officials said.
The protesters smashed windowpanes as well as windscreens of official and private vehicles parked on the premises of the nazim's office. They also torched a number of motorcycles.
Another mob surrounded the police lines and Civil Lines police station and set several official motorcycles ablaze. Then it marched towards the district jail but could not get close to it because of a heavy contingent of police and paramilitary troops posted there.
In the nearby Daska town, people burnt old tyres on the main Daska-Sialkot highway, blocking it for about five hours.
DEATH TOLL: Six more victims of the bomb explosion, including two minors, succumbed to injuries on Saturday morning, bringing the death toll to 31, said Punjab Law Minister Raja Muhammad Basharat.
Addressing a press conference at the DPO's office, the minister said that 28 of the dead had been identified. Rest of the bodies, including that of the suspected suicide bomber, were mutilated beyond recognition.
Answering a question, he said two teams were investigating the incident. "They (teams) are presently trying to ascertain whether it was a sectarian strike or act terrorism. It is too early to say that it is the work of Al Qaeda."
The minister said there was no need of any judicial inquiry. "There is an urgent need of investigation instead of a judicial inquiry. Police will soon find a clue to the culprits," he expressed the hope.
He said the chief minister had announced a reward of Rs10 million for those providing any clue to the culprits.
FUNERAL: A mass funeral was held at the railway station compound amid tight security. Thousands of mourners from all schools of thought attended the prayers under a light rain.
DCO Syed Tahir Raza Naqvi said other funerals were held in adjoining areas of the city.
The main funeral procession was brought to the railway station compound from the Markazi Imam Bargah Mistari Abdullah adjacent to the Zainabia mosque, the target of the bomb blast. The procession passed through main roads.
On way to the railway station compound, mourners placed bodies at the Allama Iqbal Chowk where they chanted anti-terrorism and anti-government slogans. A huge contingent of the police, elite force and paramilitary forces escorted the procession. The dead were buried in various graveyards in Sialkot and its outskirts.
It was a total shutdown in the city on Saturday. Offices remained closed as the district government observed a day of mourning. Local lawyers and those in nearby towns of Daska and Pasrur boycotted courts. Roads wore a deserted look as police and paramilitary forces continued patrolling the city.
The Rangpura police have not yet registered a case.
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Politicians blamed for provoking mob
03-10-2004
SIALKOT, Oct 3: District Nazim Mian Naeem Javaid has said that two federal and provincial level inquiries are under way and their findings awaited.
The Nazim accused local PML-N MNA Khwaja Muhammad Asif and MMA MPA Arshad Mehmood Baggu of instigating the mob to set his office afire and damage all the record after the mass funeral of the mosque blast victims.
Talking to newsmen here on Sunday, he said the people, who set on fire his office, did not belong to any mourning Shia organization. He said those were the political activists sent there by the local PML-N and MMA leaders.
Mr Javaid alleged that MNA Khwaja Muhammad Asif and MPA Arshad Mehmood Baggu had tried to politicize the mosque tragedy for their political gains. He said intelligence agencies had started investigation against the two politicians for creating the law and order situation. He said the record and court of special duty magistrate adjacent to the office was also damaged.
Criticizing the alleged slackness of police, he said they did nothing to save the office from the mob. He said the district government had taken a serious notice of the inaction.
Meanwhile, Sialkot police have registered a case against more than 200 people for attacking the Nazim's office and setting it afire. Police also arrested 47 of them. However, PML-N's MNA Khwaja Muhammad Asif refused to comment on the District Nazim's allegations. It was learnt that a case was likely to be registered against the PML-N MNA and the MMA MPA.
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