ISLAMABAD -- A passenger jet that officials suspect veered off course in monsoon rains and thick clouds crashed into hills overlooking Pakistan's capital Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board and scattering body parts and twisted metal far and wide.
The Airblue jet's crash was the deadliest ever in Pakistan, and just the latest tragedy to jolt a country that has suffered numerous deaths in recent years due to al-Qaida and Taliban attacks. At least two U.S. citizens were on the plane, which carried mostly Pakistanis.
The plane left the southern city of Karachi at 7:45 a.m. for a two-hour flight to Islamabad and was trying to land when it lost contact with the control tower, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. Airblue is a private airline based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.
The aircraft, an Airbus A321, crashed some 15 kilometers from the airport, scorching a wide stretch of the Margalla Hills, including a section behind Faisal Mosque, one of Islamabad's most prominent landmarks. Twisted metal wreckage hung from trees and lay scattered across the ground. Smoke rose from the scene as helicopters hovered.
The exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear, and rescue workers were seeking the "black box" flight data recorder amid the wreckage. But Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said the government did not suspect terrorism.
Rescue workers and citizen volunteers were hampered by the rain, mud and rugged terrain. The crash was so severe it would have been nearly impossible for any of the 146 passengers and six crew members to survive, rescue officials said.
"There is nothing left, just piles and bundles of flesh. There are just some belongings, like two or three traveling bags, some checkbooks, and I saw a picture of a young boy. Otherwise everything is burned," rescue worker Murtaza Khan said.
Mian Iftikhar’s son laid to rest The anti-Taliban K-P information minister was on the militants’ hit list.Funeral prayers of Mian Rashid Hussain, the sole son of Khyber Pukhtukhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain were offered in Pabbi. Chief Minister of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Ameer Haider Hoti, senior ANP leadership and people from all walks of life attended the funeral. Strict security arrangements were made for the funeral. Police officials have said that Rashid’s murder was a target killing, and an FIR has been registered against three unidentified men. Speaking to the media outside Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s residence in Peshawar, Hoti said maximum security is being provided to individuals who are on the hit list of terrorists. Mian Iftikhar’s son gunned down Unidentified assailants shot dead the son of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain outside his residence on Saturday evening in what is suspected to be a targeted hit by Taliban-linked militants. Provincial Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti has ordered an immediate inquiry into the incident. According to Hoti, the 26-year-old Mian Rashid Hussain was shot by two men on a motorcycle as he walked outside his house with his cousin Amjad, who was injured in the incident. Rashid, however, died on the spot. He was Mian Iftikhar’s only son. The body of the information minister’s son was taken to Pabbi Satellite Hospital following the incident. According to the post-mortem report, Rashid was hit multiple times – shot in four times the head and six times in the chest. Amjad, his cousin, was safe, shot only in the leg, and was taken to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, where, according to media officer Jamil Shah, his condition is not critical. Investigations into the murder are under way, but family members are convinced that the incident was a targeted hit. Militants had been hurling threats at Mian Iftikhar for a while now, and it had been reported on several occasions that his name, along with most of Awami National Party (ANP)’s leaders, was on the hit list of militants. Mian Iftikhar is also the most vocal critics of the Taliban in the provincial government. Bashir Ahmad Bilour, senior minister in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, squarely blamed the Taliban for the attack. “Mian Iftikhar Hussain has always raised a voice against terrorists and this was the only reason that his son was attacked,” he said. However, he has vowed to never bow down to them. The killing has been widely condemned, including by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, President Asif Ali Zardari, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Following the murder, people, including politicians such as Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, gathered at Iftikhar Hussain’s home in Pabbi. Due to security reasons, people who were there to pay their respects and participate were moved from the house to the nearby mosque. Rashid’s family member Haji Niaz said that Rashid had recently completed his post-graduate degree in Political Science from Peshawar University and was working as an assistant director in Peshawar Development Authority. He was due to be married soon, Niaz added. The funeral will be held today (Sunday) at 11 am.
Taliban claims responsibility for killing of Pak minister's son July 26, 2010 Islamabad: The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the gunning down of the son of a provincial minister, who was threatened by militants for criticising suicide attacks.
Mian Rashid Hussain, the only son of Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed by militants in Nowshera district on Saturday.
After distancing themselves from the attack, the Pakistani Taliban later claimed responsibility.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq initially telephoned some reporters in Peshawar and expressed his regret over the killing of the minister's son.
Later, the Tehrik-e-Taliban's deputy spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan called some journalists and claimed responsibility for the murder.
Ahsan said Tariq was in a remote area and might not be aware of the development.
Ahsan said six men were sent to kill the minister's son and they had returned safely to their hideout.
Police have registered an FIR against three unidentified attackers on the basis of a statement made by Mian Amjad, the nephew of the minister who was injured in the attack.
Amjad said two of the attackers had beards and one was clean-shaven.
However, police have made little progress in their investigation into the murder.
Nowshera district police chief Nisar Tanoli said investigators were looking into the possible involvement of local people in the attack.
"We will issue the sketch of one of the attackers on the basis of a description given by (Mian Amjad)," Tanoli said.
Investigators have collected blood specimen and empty cartridges from the scene of the killing for forensic examination.
Mian Amjad told police that he and Rashid Hussain were out for a walk when they were attacked.
When the three attackers came near them, the clean-shaven one pointed at Rashid Hussain and said to his accomplices: "He is son of Mian Iftikhar."
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain is a vocal critic of the Taliban. He has usually been the first person to visit the sites of attacks by the Taliban and has often made strong statements against the militants.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A government official says the death toll from twin suicide bombing in Pakistan has jumped to 102 with 115 people wounded.
Meraj Din says authorities are still removing debris in the village of Yakaghund in a northwest tribal region a day after two bombers struck seconds apart near a government office.
It was this year's deadliest attack in Pakistan.
Video footage showed dozens of men searching through piles of yellow brick and mud rubble for survivors. Women and children were among the victims.
Mohmand is one of several areas in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where Taliban and al-Qaida members are believed to be hiding.
Pakistan bombing outside a government office on Friday killed 62 people and wounded 111 in one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan this year.
KHAR, Pakistan : July 09,2010
A pair of suicide bombers struck outside a government office Friday in a tribal region where the army has fought the Taliban, killing 62 people and wounding 111 in one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan this year.
The attack, possibly aimed at some anti-Taliban tribal elders, showed that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, despite army offensives and U.S. missile strikes aimed at wiping them out. Washington is watching closely how Pakistan handles its militant crisis, pushing the South Asian country to wage war on Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who use its territory to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.
The bombers detonated their explosives near the Yakaghund village office of Rasool Khan, a deputy administrator of the Mohmand tribal region, who escaped unharmed. A group of tribal elders, including those involved in setting up militias to fight the Taliban, were in the building at the time. None was hurt, according to Mohmand chief administrator Amjad Ali Khan.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 prisoners — ordinary criminals, not militants — to flee, Rasool Khan said. One of the bombs appeared fairly small but the other was huge, and they went off within seconds of each other, officials said. At least one bomber was on a motorcycle.
Video footage showed dozens of men searching through piles of yellow brick and mud rubble for survivors. Women and children were among the victims.
Near the attack site, officials had been distributing wheelchairs to disabled people and equipment to poor farmers, Amjad Ali Khan said. It was unclear how many participants in that event were among the victims.
Khan disputed reports that the aid was provided through U.S. funding, saying it came from Pakistani government funds. However, U.S. Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire confirmed that, on the previous day, Pakistani staff from a Washington-based contractor that receives USAID money had been giving out farm equipment in the village.
The staff of that contractor, AED or Academy for Educational Development, are staying in the area, but are not believed to have been the targets Friday.
Rasool Khan said 62 people died and 111 were wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a team of gunmen and suicide bombs stormed two mosques of the Ahmadi sect in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 97 people in late May. That was one of a series of several deadly strikes in Punjab this year.
Abdul Wadood was sitting in a vehicle in Yakaghund when the attack happened.
"I only heard the deafening blast and lost consciousness," said the 19-year-old, who was being treated for head and arm wounds in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) away from the attack. "I found myself on a hospital bed after opening my eyes. I think those who planned or carried out this attack are not humans."
Security official Esa Khan said the sounds were deafening.
"After the blast, I saw destruction. I saw bodies everywhere. I saw the injured crying for help," he told The Associated Press in Peshawar, where he helped escort some of the wounded.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, but Mohmand is one of several areas in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where Taliban and al-Qaida members are believed to be hiding.
The Pakistani army has carried out operations in Mohmand, but it has been unable to root out the militants. Its efforts to rely on citizen militias to take on the militants have had limited success there.
Information from the tribal belt is difficult to verify independently because access to the area is heavily restricted.
Generally speaking, there have been fewer attacks in Pakistan this year compared to previous years. In the last three months of 2009, for instance, more than 500 people were killed in a surge of attacks in the country.
The attacks that have occurred this year have inflicted extraordinary casualties.
The first big attack occurred on New Year's Day, when a suicide car bomber struck a sports event near a meeting of tribesmen who supervise an anti-Taliban militia near Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area. At least 96 people were confirmed dead, though several others were missing and presumed dead.
But some of the worst attacks in 2010 have occurred far from the northwest, in cities such as Karachi in the south and Lahore in eastern Punjab province. Several have been sectarian in nature, though the Pakistani Taliban — who are extremist Sunni Muslims — are believed to have played a role in some or been affiliated with the offenders.
Last week in Lahore, two suicide bombers attacked Pakistan's most famous Sufi shrine, known as Data Darbar. The attack killed 47 people and sparked protests among Pakistanis, most of whom practice a moderate, Sufi-influenced form of Islam.
The attacks in Punjab have prompted Pakistan's government to agree to an all-parties conference on how to cope with the terrorist menace on their soil.
Still, the main bases of militant groups in Pakistan are believed to be in the northwest, particularly the tribal regions where the government has long had little influence.
Pakistani army offensives in the region are believed to have contributed to a decrease in attacks this year, as are U.S. missile strikes believed to have taken out some Taliban and al-Qaida operatives and kept the survivors on the run. But violence has continued to flare up regardless.
Also Friday, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, a committee member, met with Pakistani officials in Islamabad to discuss their countries' cooperation in the fight against extremists.
In a statement issued after he met the American lawmakers, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said both countries should try harder to increase mutual trust.
He said Pakistan was doing its utmost to combat militancy, and "expected friendly countries like (the) U.S. to share with it credible and actionable information rather than indulging in blame game, in order to achieve our shared and common goal of succeeding against militancy."
Over the past decade Pakistan and the U.S. have frequently questioned each other's motives in the region.
Pakistan has been suspected of fomenting problems in Afghanistan as a part of its regional struggle with India, while Islamabad has suggested that Washington gives favorable treatment to New Delhi in areas such as nuclear armament.
In a reference to its larger archrival, Gilani said the U.S. should take a "fair and nondiscriminatory approach ... in its relations with the regional countries."
In recent visits to Pakistan, U.S. officials have stressed that the relationship between the two countries has improved.
Pakistan suicide blasts kill at least 37: official
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – Twin suicide blasts killed at least 37 people Thursday and injured scores more at a crowded shrine to an Islamic saint in Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, a city official said. "At least 37 people were killed and 175 injured" in two suicide attacks at a complex housing the tomb of a Sufi saint, Lahore city police chief Aslam Tareen told AFP. Another senior city police official, Chaudhry Shafiq also confirmed two suicide attacks and said one bomber blew himself up in the courtyard while the second one detonated his explosive vest in the basement of the shrine. A senior investigating officer told AFP that the bomber in the basement set off his vest after he was intercepted by a group of worshippers. He said that both the bombers were aged 17-22 years, adding that police were combing the scene for more detailed forensic clues. Thousands of people were at the shrine dedicated to Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, at the time of the attacks on Thursday night. "There were at least 2,000 to 2,500 people present in the shrine when the twin attacks took place," caretaker of the shrine, Mian Mohammad Munir said. He said the blasts occurred within minutes, triggering panic among people, who ran in different directions. "It was a suicide bombing and we have found the heads of two suicide bombers," Khusro Pervez, commissioner of Lahore said, adding "We are looking into the circumstances around how the bombers penetrated the area despite strict security." Television channels aired live pictures from the scene of the carnage, showing people crying and beating their chests and heads. Bystanders helped ambulance crews load the wounded into vehicles before they were rushed to hospital. "The first blast occurred in the basement followed by another one with a deafening sound," an eye witness said. "I saw dead bodies and injured people lying on the floor in pools of blood," another witness said. People were seen hugging each other as police cordoned off the area to prevent any further attack. Earlier, police and city administration officials had said there were three suicide attacks at the busy shrine, known as Data Darbar, in the crowded centre of Lahore, home to around 10 million people. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the attacks, saying: "Terrorists have no consideration for any religion, faith or belief." "These terrorists neither respect human values nor care for human lives, and their brutal act is manifestation of their evil designs," he said. "The government is committed to eradicate the menace of terrorism at all costs". Gilani said he had directed the provincial government and the law enforcement agencies to investigate the attack and catch those responsible. There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but Pakistan has been hit by a wave of deadly attacks carried out by the Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist extremists. More than 3,400 people have been killed in a series of suicide attacks and bomb explosions in Pakistan during the last three years. In May suspected Sunni Muslim militants wearing suicide vests burst into two Ahmadi prayer halls in Lahore and killed 82 worshippers. They were the worst attacks in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 101 people on January 1 at a volleyball game in Bannu, which abuts the tribal belt along the Afghan border that Washington calls Al-Qaeda's global headquarters. Pakistan's leading rights group said the Ahmadi community -- an offshoot of Islam that is not recognised by Pakistan's mainstream Muslims -- had received threats for more than a year. Officials blamed that attack on Islamist militants who have killed more than 3,400 people in bombings over the last three years. Lahore has increasingly suffered Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence, with around 265 people killed in nine attacks since March 2009. The city is a playground for Pakistan's elite and home to many top brass in its military and intelligence establishment. Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have orchestrated the three-year bombing campaign in Pakistan to avenge military operations and the government's alliance with the United States over the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – Twin suicide blasts killed at least 37 people Thursday and injured scores more at a crowded shrine to an Islamic saint in Lahore, 