LAHORE: The Pakistani authorities investigating the 27/5 bloody
suicide attack in Lahore believe the actual target of the bomber was
the provincial headquarters of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
but he had to divert his explosive-laden vehicle to the nearby Rescue
15 head office after being given strong resistance from inside the ISI
headquarters. However, the blast was so powerful that it bulldozed a
part of the ISI building, killing a serving Colonel of the Pakistan
Army who was present in his office at the time of the attack.
At least 35 people were killed and over 300 injured in the capital of
Punjab on Wednesday, following a massive bomb attack carried out by a
human bomb. The Rescue 15 building, which was adjacent to the head
office of the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore, was
completely demolished after being hit by the suicide bomber. A big
cloud of white smoke rose over the city after the blast. Over 100
people were present inside the 15 police emergency response building
at the time of the attack, and the death-toll is expected to rise as
rubbles of the demolished building are still being removed and bodies
being recovered. The provincial headquarters of the country’s
all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence were also damaged badly,
prompting the military troops to completely cordon off the entire
building after the bombing.
Those investigating the assault say the attack was a hybrid operation
consisting of an armed attack by four gunmen and the subsequent
detonation of a car bomb. The terrorists accompanying the suicide
bomber apparently wanted to penetrate the well-protected ISI building.
At least four men with rifles first stepped out of the car and opened
fire on security guards deployed outside the agency building. As the
security personnel offered tough resistance by returning heavy fire,
the attackers threw a hand grenade to pave the way for the car bomber
to enter the ISI building.
As the firing got intensified, the car bomber suddenly changed his
direction and rammed his vehicle into the Rescue 15 office hardly a
few yards away. The investigators say at least 100 kilograms of C4
explosive might have been used to carry out the deadly attack. While
the ISPR spokesman declined to speak on the martyrdom of a serving
colonel in the Wednesday attack, a senior interior ministry official
confirmed on condition of anonymity that Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad
Amir, a senior ISI official, was the victim of the 27/5 attack and his
funeral prayers were offered at the Ayub Stadium in Lahore the same
night. The official added that another senior ISI official, Colonel
Zulfiqar, also received injuries in the suicide attack and is in
critical condition.
Those investigating the Wednesday assault have firm view that it was a
well coordinated operation carried out jointly by the Punjabi Taliban
belonging to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Pushtun Taliban
associated with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The two
proscribed sectarian and jehadi organizations have already been found
involved in several other terrorist attacks in various parts of
Punjab, ranging from the September 20, 2008 Marriott suicide bombing
in Islamabad to the March 30, 2009 fidayeen style attack on the
Manawan police training academy in Lahore. The investigators say there
are clear indications that like many earlier incidents of suicide
bombings in Punjab, the 27/5 assault might also have been planned
jointly by Qari Hussain Mehsud, a close associate of the FBI’s Most
Wanted TTP ameer Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Mohammad Zafar, currently
the chief operational commander of the LeJ.
Al-Qaeda-linked Qari Hussain, who is also known as “Ustad-e-Fidayeen”
or the teacher of suicide bombers, is considered to be a specialist in
indoctrinating teenagers to carry out suicide attacks in the name of
Islam. He is believed to have become the main ideologue of the Pushtun
Taliban working under Baitullah Mehsud’s command. Qari Hussain is well
known in the TTP ranks for his strong anti-Shia views and his close
ties with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The Pakistani agencies are
trying to hunt him down since long given his status as the one who may
have recruited and indoctrinated the largest number of people to carry
out suicide attacks in the country.
Originally coming from Karachi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Qari Mohammad
Zafar has become a trusted member of al-Qaeda’s hardline inner circle
who enjoys the protection of the Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah
Mehsud and is believed to be hiding in the lawless South Waziristan.
Pakistani authorities say Qari Zafar is not only the suspected
mastermind of the September 20, 2008 Marriot Hotel suicide attack in
Islamabad, but the most sought after al-Qaeda linked terrorist who was
already trying to target important strategic installations belonging
to the ISI in Punjab and Sindh.
The Pakistani authorities pointed out that on January 17, 2009, Qari
Hussain had released an unusual video of statements from purported
suicide bombers and footage of deadly attacks they claimed to have
perpetrated in Pakistan. The 40-minute tape showed youth, some
apparently in their teens, addressing the camera about their intention
to carry out suicide attacks to background music of Urdu militant
anthems. The said video was reportedly handed out to journalists in
Peshawar by none other than Qari Hussain. All those featured in the
video spoke Pashto. The two major suicide attacks claimed on the TTP
video were the March 11, 2008 suicide attack on the Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA) building in Lahore and the November 24,
2007 twin suicide attacks in the Faizabad area of Rawalpindi in front
of the ISI headquarters when a suicide bomber rammed his
explosive-laden car into a bus carrying 35 ISI officers, killing 15 of
them on the spot.
Although no militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the
Wednesday suicide attack, interior minister Rehman Malik seems sure
about the involvement that Baitullah Mehsud. “The Lahore attack seems
to be the reprisal for fresh army operation in South Waziristan. The
security agencies had received threats from Baitullah Mehsud and his
cronies to stop the military operation or face suicide attacks. And
this seems to be the result of that warning”, Malik told reporters in
Islamabad.
The 27/5 suicide attack comes less than two months after the 30/3
assault on the police academy at Manawan, close to Lahore when armed
gunmen laid a siege resulting in the killing of 10 persons including
eight policemen. The most wanted fugitive ameer of the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the Manawan
attack, saying the military operation in the tribal areas of Pakistan
should be stopped immediately. During the same month, on March 3,
2009, a group of 12 well-armed and highly trained gunmen attacked a
bus carrying members of Sri Lankan national cricket team on their way
to a stadium for a Test match. The well-coordinated attack wounded
over eight members of the team and killed a driver and six Pakistani
police officers.
amir.mir1969@gmail.com