2 terrorists among 5 killed in attack on Imambargah Madinatul Ilm in Gulshan-i-Iqbal
30-05-2005

KARACHI, May 30: Two suspected terrorists, a policeman and two worshippers were killed and more than 30 others were wounded in a suicide bombing at a mosque in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Monday evening.

The news of suicide attack spread like a wild fire across the city and enraged youths came out on the streets. Some people set on fire a fast food restaurant adjacent to the mosque. They also set ablaze four cars, a bus and a motorcycle of a press photographer on the main Rashid Minhas Road. They forced families to leave their cars which were set ablaze. Two petrol stations located near a hospital were also set on fire. Reports of violence were also received from other parts of the city.

Police and witnesses said a suicide bomber and his three accomplices had been intercepted at the main gate of the mosque by security guards but the bomber succeeded in entering the building. He was intercepted by a worshipper in the veranda while others were offering prayers. The man started firing indiscriminately but the worshipper overpowered him. Seconds later, the bomber blew himself up in the veranda some 10 feet from the inner gate of the mosque�s building. At least 150 worshippers were offering prayers at that time, the witnesses said.

They said that four attackers had attempted to enter the mosque when two police guards and a private security guard, deputed on the main gate, stopped them and tried to frisk them. The assailants tried to snatch rifles from the policemen. The security guard and the policemen scuffled with them, but one of them, the suicide bomber, succeeded in entering the mosque�s premises.

The suicide bomber was resisted by one of the worshippers but he blew himself. The head and legs of the suicide bomber were lying on the floor while other parts of his body were seen stuck to walls.

An exchange of fire took place at the main entrance between the assailants and the police and security guards in which one attacker died and another was wounded. The fourth assailant managed to escape. A police official was also killed in the shootout.

City police chief Tariq Jamil said it was an act of sectarian terrorism. He said that three attackers had tried to enter the premises and one of them succeeded. He blew himself up in the veranda. The other attacker was killed and another wounded. During the shootout, a police official was killed.

Mr Jamil said people turned violent after the incident and did not allow police to enter the mosque for investigation. �We have deployed police there and they did their work. They tried their best to intercept the criminals and one of them was arrested. One policeman was killed. We want to inspect the spot to initiate investigation but we are not being allowed to enter,� he added.

A witness named Ali said: �We were offering prayers when we heard sound of gun shots. We broke off prayers and saw a man in veranda firing indiscriminately. A worshipper tried to stop him but he blew himself up. The explosion was quite powerful. Had he blown himself up inside the building, casualties would have been higher.�

The injured were taken to different hospitals � 11 of them to the Patel Hospital and one was brought dead, later identified as M.A. Raja, head constable. Fifteen of the injured were taken to the Liaquat National Hospital where one succumbed to his injuries. One of the injured died in the Rab Medical Centre while seven injured were provided first aid and referred to the Liaquat National Hospital. An unidentified body, presumed to be of a terrorist, was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. His wounded accomplice was also in the JPMC and doctors were trying to save his life.

Following the explosion, tension gripped the entire metropolis and violence erupted sparked in many areas, including Ancholi, Stadium Road, Abbas Town, Malir and North Nazimabad. Reports of firing and torching of vehicles were received from these areas. Police sources said the total number of vehicles burnt was more than 10.





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Six bodies found in restaurant torched by mob
31-05-2005

KARACHI, May 31: Death toll in Monday�s suicide bombing and subsequent violence in the city rose to 11 after six bodies were recovered from a fast food restaurant on Tuesday morning by fire-brigade personnel. The KFC restaurant had been torched by some people after the incident in the adjoining Madinat-ul-Ilm mosque and imambargah near the NIPA intersection in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. Five people, including the suicide bomber, were killed in the explosion that ripped through the mosque. Soon after the blast, a mob set the nearby public and private property including the restaurant on fire.

According to a press release issued by the KFC, the six deceased were its employees, all of them in their twenties. Three of them had joined the restaurant recently, and the other three had been serving the fast food chain for some time.

It said: �A few minutes after the blast in imambargah, a mob was at our doorstep. As an automatic response, we closed our ground floor shutters to ensure the safety of our customers, expecting that the mob would disperse. Ground floor shutters were broken and gasoline sprayed on the floor and furniture torched. Our crew tried to ensure that the customers were evacuated through the rooftop and other possible means. The six crew members were at the forefront of this and for their effort lost their lives.�

The CEO of the KFC franchise, Mr Rafiq Rangoonwala, said the government had not contacted the management. �The victims were part of our team and just like family members. Our shareholders and we are shocked by the incident. Our priority is how to compensate the families of the victims and what we can do for them,� he added.

Police identified the deceased as air-conditioner technician Mohammad Saleem, waiter Faraz Ahmed, sweeper John Peter, security guard Ghulam Hasan, technician in-charge Ilyas and accountant Asif. The bodies of Saleem, Faraz, Peter, and Hasan found on the stairs and on the first floor, while those of Asif and Ilyas, found in the restaurant�s cold storage, were frozen.

The families of Asif and Ilyas had informed police that they had not reached home. Police asked the fire-brigade to search the place which led to the recovery of the bodies which were later handed over to their families.

INVESTIGATION: Police on Tuesday identified two accomplices of the suicide bomber, who had blown himself up in the mosque.

Police said that the identity of the suicide bomber had not been established so far. However, the two attackers were identified as Asif Sarfaraz and Tehseen alias Fahad alias Qasim alias Naseem. Asif, a resident of Mehran Colony, Orangi Town, was killed and Tehseen, a resident of Shah Waliullah Colony, Sector 11-1/2, Orangi Town, was wounded during a shootout with police and the security guard in the mosque. During the exchange of fire, the suicide bomber succeeded in entering the mosque and he blew himself up in the veranda as he failed to enter the main prayer hall.

Police said that Tehseen had regained consciousness after he was shifted from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre to the PNS Shifa hospital. They said that Tehseen had earlier misguided the police and introduced himself as Jamil Ahmed. However, police identified him as Tehseen, the right-hand man of on absconding militant suspect, Asif Chhotu of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group.

According to investigating officers Tehseen confessed that he belonged to Asif Chhotu group. He knew his accomplice as Asif Sarfaraz but did not know the name of the suicide bomber.

Raja Umar Khattab, DSP CID, who is part of the investigation team, told Dawn that Asif Chhotu had persuaded the suicide bomber to came to Karachi from Punjab. The bomber reached the city only two days before the incident. Asif Chhotu, the ringleader of the group, had rented a house in a Shantytown in Gulshan-i-Iqbal some three weeks back soon after coming here from Punjab.

Mr Khattab said that during investigation, the mastermind of the explosions in Karachi�s Hyderi mosque and Ali Raza imambargah on May 7, and May 31, last year, Gul Hasan, had told police that the group had started monitoring the Madinat-ul-Ilm mosque about a year ago. Since security at the mosque was intensified, Tehseen started another monitoring two days before the blast.

The DSP said that Tehseen had been affiliated with the banned organization for seven years. He was also involved in the Suparco case in which six employees were killed in Mauripur in October 2003.



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Karachi mourns victims of blast: 65 arrested
31-05-2005

KARACHI, May 31: At least 65 youths were picked up by police on Tuesday for creating law and order situation on Rashid Minhas Road and Sharea Faisal following the funeral prayers of one of the victims of Madinatul Ilm suicide bombing. During the violence, a car (AFB-399) was set ablaze in front of Drigh Road station, Sharea Faisal. The car was reportedly returning from the airport after dropping Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Husain Ahmed there. The car belonged to JI�s Karachi chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Namaz-i-Janaza of Fida Husain, the Moazan of Madinatul Ilm, was performed in Korangi. He was laid to rest in a local graveyard in Korangi.

In Garden, Namaz-i-Janaza of M.H. Raja, the head constable who died while performing his duty at the mosque, was performed. His body was later flown to his native town Rawalpindi via PIA flight.

Namaz-i-Janaza of Muhammad Ali, caretaker of the mosque, was performed at Madinatul Ilm. A large number of people attended his funeral. His body was later taken to airport in an Edhi ambulance escorted by police. The body was flown to Gilgit, the native town of Muhammad Ali, via a PIA flight.

In the meantime, some of the youths who were left at the mosque after funeral prayers came on roads and resorted to aerial firing. Traffic flow on Rashid Minhas Road and Sharea Faisal was disrupted despite presence of police.

Some armed youths opened fire at a coach. However, no one was injured in the incident. Immediately afterwards, they intercepted a new corolla in front of the Drigh Road station and set it on fire.

TPO Gulshan told Dawn that Rangers and police acted as a team and nabbed 65 youths for creating law and order situation.

A strike-like situation was witnessed throughout the day in almost all areas of the city. Attendance in educational institutions and government offices also remained thin.

Most parts of the city were in the grip of fear and panic with roads wearing a deserted look. Markets and bazaars in most of the areas, particularly in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and adjoining localities, remained closed. No public transport was available there except a few taxis, rickshaws and minibuses seen on roads.

In F.B Area, a similar situation prevailed and almost all shops were shut down. The worst situation was witnessed in Ancholi, where all commercial activity had come to stand still after the bombing incident and burning of vehicles on Monday night.

Workshops and car showrooms at New M.A. Jinnah Road and Khalid Bin Waleed Road in Jamshed Town also remained closed. Shopping malls and business plazas at Tariq Road were not opened at all. Tension also prevailed in parts of Saddar and Lyari towns as a result of Monday�s tragic incidents. Many shopkeepers kept their shutters closed in the old town areas including Kharadar, Mithadar, Khori Garden, Khadda and Juna markets.

Almost all the petrol pumps remained closed since Tuesday morning. Only a few petrol pumps, which were opened, long queues of motorists were seen.



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