Screengrab of the debris left after the suicide bombing
One police officer was martyred and six other injured on Friday morning in an apparent suicide attack in Islamabad’s I-10 area, according to police and government officials.
Speaking with media from the blast scene, Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Sohail Zafar Chattha said a suspicious taxi had been trying to enter Islamabad from Rawalpindi when it was stopped for a routine check by members of the Islamabad Police Eagle Squad. When police started searching the vehicle, he said, the male terrorist re-entered the vehicle detonated explosives, resulting in one cop being martyred. The area has since been cordoned off and police have started an investigation into the incident.
To a question, the DIG said there were two suspected terrorists—a man and a woman. Both died in the explosion, he added.
“Police personnel saved Islamabad from a major disaster with courage and presence of mind,” he said, adding that four cops had been injured in the attack. Speaking with media later, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said four cops and two civilians had been injured.
The minister said the casualties of brave personnel had averted a potentially major terrorist attack. To questions, he said the entire country had been on high alert after the hostage situation at the Bannu Counter-Terrorism Center earlier this week. The federal capital, he explained, was especially under high-alert, but clarified that there had been no specific terror threat about this attack.
The martyred cop has been identified as head constable Adeel Hussain.
According to a spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, two bodies and five injured have been brought to hospital. However, this could not be independently verified.
In a statement, Islamabad Police said terrorists had been targeting the police for some time to demoralize law enforcement agencies. “The terrorists wanted to detonate in a densely populated area to attack the police and public,” it said, adding the capital had now been placed under red alert. As a consequence, it said strict action would be taken against anyone traveling in vehicles without official license plates. “No person will be allowed to carry arms,” it said, and urged all citizens to carry their identification documents with them during travel. The police also urged citizens to register their tenants and domestic workers with police “immediately.”
Later on Friday, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was carried out by Maulana Khabib to avenge the killing of Omar Khalid Khorasani, who was reportedly slain in Afghanistan in August. The TTP has also threatened more attacks in future.
P.M. orders report
Shortly after the bombing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities concerned to submit a report into the incident. Condemning the terror attack in a statement, he paid tribute to the martyred policeman and reiterated vows that the entire nation would fight against terrorism. “The plan to shed innocent blood has failed due to the action of the law enforcement agencies,” he said and announced a martyr’s package for the family of the martyred head constable.
Condemning the incident, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Islamabad had been “spared from major disaster” by the actions of the Eagle Squad of Islamabad Police. “Shaheed Adeel Hussain, his wounded comrades are heroes of the nation,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that Pakistan’s prosperity required an end to unrest.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned the bombing, paying tribute to the martyred and injured policemen in a statement. “The men of Islamabad police have done their duty without caring for their lives,” he said, as he offered his sympathy and condolences to the family of the martyred cop and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.