Suicide Bomber dies in suicide attack on imambargah in Satellite Town
28-02-2004
RAWALPINDI, Feb 28: A suicide bomber was killed and four worshippers were injured in an attack on an imambargah here on Saturday evening.
According to an eyewitness, Syed Ejaz Hussain, a young man in his mid-20s with short beard came to imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussaini in Satellite Town during Maghrib prayers and joined the congregation. In the second Rakat, the attacker detonated the bomb wrapped around his body.
"There was big explosion in the prayer hall of the imambargah and at first our reaction was that someone had thrown some explosive from outside, therefore, all of us ran out," Mr Hussain said.
There were more than 40 worshippers in the imambargah at the time of the attack.
However, fortunately enough there were neither major casualties nor any damage was caused to the imambargah's building.
It was the first sectarian suicide attack in the city. The government had taken special measures for maintaining peace during Muharram and had called out army to assist the civil administration in this regard.
Another eyewitness, describing the attacker, said he had fair complexion and was apparently of Afghan origin. "He was new in the locality and none of us had seen him earlier here," he added. The suicide bomber was wearing dark coloured clothes.
The imambargah has a heavy security cordon around it, including barriers to stop sectarian attacks. However, the bomber managed to sneak through.
A member of the imambargah administration told Dawn that the people responsible for security were a bit relaxed as they were getting ready for the prayer due to which the attacker managed to enter the imambargah with the bomb wrapped around his body.
Acting district Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas, who rushed to the place of incident immediately after the attack, told Dawn that the district government would revise its existing security arrangements for imambargahs and mosques in the light of the attack. Replying to a question if he considered it as a security lapse, Mr Ikhlas said it was certainly one, but truly no one was ever expecting it.
Appealing for calm, he said the administration would leave no stone unturned in its efforts for providing a secure environment to worshippers.
Satellite Town Nazim Mian Imran Hayat regretted the incident as unfortunate.
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Imambargah bomber identified
14-03-2004
RAWALPINDI, March 14: Superintendent of Police, Investigation Wing, Mian Akhtar Hayat on Sunday said the suicide bomber, who had attacked Imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussainia in Satellite Town on February 28, had been identified.
The SP was speaking at a press conference at his office here on Sunday. Mr Hayat said the suicide bomber, Muzaffar-ur-Rehman, was trained in Afghanistan and belonged to a militant group.
He said police teams were on their way to track down the militant group with whom the suicide bomber was working. However, he did not disclose the name of the militant group.
Mr Hayat said Muzaffar-ur-Rehman had four brothers one of whom had been on the wanted list in connection with his involvement in the terrorist attack on Shah Najaf mosque in Khayaban-i-Sir Syed. The third one, Saif-ur-Rehman, has been missing and carrying the head money of Rs1 million announced by the government.
The SP said the bomber was identified by his mother and a brother who had been in the United Arab Emirates. The family belongs to Abbottabad. Replying to a question, Mian Hayat said the district police had received funds under the new Police Order but he (being the SP Investigation Wing) had not received any money directly in connection with the investigation.
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Bomber's body given to family
18-03-2004
RAWALPINDI, March 18: The body of a suicide bomber who had blown himself up on the premises of Imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussaini in Satellite Town on February 28 was handed over to his family by the police on Thursday.
Muzaffar-ur-Rehman, the suicide bomber, had been identified by his mother, Sabir Jan, and brother, Misri Khan, after seeing his photographs in the newspapers.
Before handing the body over to the family, a judicial magistrate recorded the statements of Sabir Jan and Misri Khan, who later on received the body for burial in their native town.
The suicide bomber had four brothers one of whom is wanted by the police in connection with a terrorist attack on Shah Najaf Masjid in Khayaban-i-Sir Syed. Meanwhile, the investigating team probing into the Imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussaini has arrested four suspects. One of the suspects is stated to be the man who had brought the suicide bomber to the Imambargah and disappeared.
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