by Imran Asghar in the Express Tribune, Dec 5, 2020
RAWALPINDI: At least one person was killed and eight others were injured as terror revisited Rawalpindi as a bomb packed with ball bearings exploded on the crowded Pir Wadhai bus stand on Friday afternoon.
Police have termed the incident a terrorist attack and have handed over investigations to the CounterTerrorism Department (CTD). Witnesses and police said that as people gathered after Friday prayers, the bomb exploded in a motorcycle rickshaw – Qingqi. The blast caused panic at the bus stand The blast was powerful enough to shatter windows and mirrors of shops and vehicles nearby.
The explosion also set fire to the tri-wheeler and an adjoining stall. The explosion was so loud that witnesses said they heard it even though they were quite far from the blast site. Soon after the incident, ambulances and firefighters of the Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot. A spokesperson for the rescue service said that they put out the fire while four of the injured were shifted to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH). Locals had shifted four others to the hospital on their own.
The victims were identified as 26-year-old Bilal, 18-yearold Qasim, 77-year-old Abdur Rehman, 19-year-old Zafeer, 28-year-old Alaudin, 19-yearold Ibrahim, 25-year-old Abdul Manan, and 35-yearold Ishaq Rehman. A police spokesperson said that doctors had described the condition of the injured as out of danger. Officials said that 45-yearold Afzal Khan, a resident of Bansanwali Gali in Pir Wadhai had succumbed to his injuries. His body was later shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) for an autopsy. The official added that along with rescue workers, a heavy contingent of police, including Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Ahsan Younis and Rawal Division SP Rai Mazhar Iqbal along with other relevant law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area.
The bomb disposal squad was also summoned to comb the area. Police said the rickshaw was completely burnt to ashes in the blast. “One person was killed and seven others wounded. It was a timed device and was planted near a bus terminal,” Rawalpindi police spokesperson Sajjadul Hassan said. Another senior police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that a locally made, timed device had been used in the explosion. He added that the explosives used in the blast weighed around a kilogramme while ball bearings were also used in the explosion. Meanwhile, SP Iqbal termed the incident as a terrorist act, stating that an investigation into the blast has been handed over to the CounterTerrorism Department (CTD) who will also register a case for the attack.
He added that the CTD and bomb disposal squads are collecting evidence. In this regard, he said that they were trying to obtain any footage recorded by the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the bus station. Rawalpindi is the country’s fourth-largest city. It is known for its military garrison – particularly the headquarters of the military and adjoins the capital Islamabad. No group had immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It is only the second bomb blast in Rawalpindi since 2015, the same year the army intensified a crackdown on militants. In June, a similar explosion at a popular market killed one person and injured more than a dozen others.
