Car bombing in Pakistan
Brendan Monroe
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
It was an otherwise typical day for shoppers and vendors in the eternally busy Mina Bazaar in Peshawar's old town. The city has long been the economic hub of Pakistan's northwest region and the plethora of tiny stalls and stores selling all manner of goods are testament to this. The market, one of the biggest outside of Islamabad, attracts visitors from neighboring Pakistani towns on a daily basis, and families and individuals routinely comb through the Bazaar's twisted alleys in search of a bargain.
The omnipresent humming of vendors shilling their wares and shoppers negotiating for cheap jewelry was silenced Oct. 28 by a thunderous car bomb that collapsed storefronts and overturned whatever stability the threatened region had left. Amidst the turmoil that erupted after the explosion, men rushed to the aid of women and children who lay buried under the rubble, the cries ringing through the congested alleyways.
"There was a deafening sound and I was like a blind man for a few minutes," said Mohammad Usman, who was wounded in the attack. "I heard women and children crying and started to help others. There was the smell of human flesh in the air."
This is the third bomb to strike Peshawar this month and is part of a larger offensive of over 10 major recent terrorist attacks that have left around 250 people dead. Despite this and the current high alert level for militant attacks in the country, authorities appear to have been unprepared for such an attack, with one eyewitness account claiming the lack of emergency equipment and transport resulted in rickshaws being used as ambulances. Initial estimates account for over 100 dead and more than 200 wounded in what is the deadliest bombing to hit Pakistan since 150 people were killed in Karachi in October 2007. The number dead is expected to rise as the narrow streets are cleared of rubble in the coming days.
Authorities speculate that the car bomb was detonated remotely from an offsite location and blame the bombing on Islamic militants who they say are attempting to avenge the army's offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan. The government has deployed over 30,000 troops to the tribal region to remove insurgents and destroy suspected Al Qaeda bases. The Taliban had threatened to respond if the offensive, launched on Oct. 17, continued. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his government would not be deterred by the attack.
The omnipresent humming of vendors shilling their wares and shoppers negotiating for cheap jewelry was silenced Oct. 28 by a thunderous car bomb that collapsed storefronts and overturned whatever stability the threatened region had left. Amidst the turmoil that erupted after the explosion, men rushed to the aid of women and children who lay buried under the rubble, the cries ringing through the congested alleyways.
"There was a deafening sound and I was like a blind man for a few minutes," said Mohammad Usman, who was wounded in the attack. "I heard women and children crying and started to help others. There was the smell of human flesh in the air."
This is the third bomb to strike Peshawar this month and is part of a larger offensive of over 10 major recent terrorist attacks that have left around 250 people dead. Despite this and the current high alert level for militant attacks in the country, authorities appear to have been unprepared for such an attack, with one eyewitness account claiming the lack of emergency equipment and transport resulted in rickshaws being used as ambulances. Initial estimates account for over 100 dead and more than 200 wounded in what is the deadliest bombing to hit Pakistan since 150 people were killed in Karachi in October 2007. The number dead is expected to rise as the narrow streets are cleared of rubble in the coming days.
Authorities speculate that the car bomb was detonated remotely from an offsite location and blame the bombing on Islamic militants who they say are attempting to avenge the army's offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan. The government has deployed over 30,000 troops to the tribal region to remove insurgents and destroy suspected Al Qaeda bases. The Taliban had threatened to respond if the offensive, launched on Oct. 17, continued. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his government would not be deterred by the attack.
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