QUETTA: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and some other leaders of his party escaped a suicide attack here on Thursday evening.

According to police, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest near a bullet-proof vehicle carrying Maulana Fazl, JUI-F Secretary General and Minister of State Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akram Durrani and some other party leaders.

The attack, claimed by the banned militant organisation Jundullah, took place on Mecongi Road, near a shopping plaza, after the JUI-F chief left Sadiq Shaheed ground where he addressed a large public meeting organised by his party.

Two JUI-F workers, Shah Mohammad Tareen and Mohammad Usman, were killed and about 30 others injured.

Two JUI-F workers dead, 30 injured

The Deputy Inspector General of Quetta, Aizaz Goraya, said Maulana Fazl was the main target of the suicide attack. According to him, the Maulana and his colleagues remained safe because the vehicle provided by Balochistan police was bullet- and bomb-proof.

Police said the suicide bomber was 18 years old.

“The participants of the meeting (Mufti Mehmood conference) were offering Asr prayers after the Maulana’s address when the powerful explosion took place outside the ground,” Aminullah, a witness, told Dawn.

Maulana Fazl told journalists that the suicide bomber ran towards his vehicle and blew himself up near it. “Splinters of the explosives hit my vehicle and pieces of the bomber’s body fell over it. Smoke filled the vehicle and I struck against the window of the vehicle,” he said. “I was target of the bomber.”

Soon after the attack, a heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, police and other law-enforcement personnel cordoned off the area and took Maulana Fazl and other JUI-F leaders to a safe place “in tight security”.

Rescue teams took the bodies and the injured to the Civil Hospital. Six of the injured were later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital because of their critical condition.

Hundreds of JUI-F workers donated blood at the Civil Hospital.

Bomb disposal personnel collected evidence from the scene.

“It was a suicide attack and about 8kg of explosives containing ball bearings were used,” an official of the bomb disposal squad said. Pieces of the bomber’s body found at the blast site were sent to the Civil Hospital for identification. His face was badly damaged and beyond recognition. Several shops and vehicles parked around the shopping plaza were destroyed in the powerful blast, heard miles away.

BALOCHISTAN CM: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch condemned the attack and said his government had no intelligence report or information about an attack on Maulana Fazl.

Talking to reporters, he said the bullet-proof vehicle provided by the authorities had saved the life of the JUI-F chief.

In reply to a question, he said the militant Islamic State group, formerly called Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham, might be working in Balochistan. “There are several militant groups working in the province and the IS may be one of them,” he said.

The chief minister also condemned the killing of eight Hazara Shias near the Hazarganji fruit and vegetable market, saying the community had received threats on Wednesday night, but did not inform the government.

He said his government had full support of the federal government, army and other law-enforcement agencies to curb terrorism and militancy in Balochistan.

The chief minister called the JUI-F chief and thanked God that the terrorists could not succeed in their nefarious designs.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said efforts were being made to trace and arrest the perpetrators behind the attack.

The provincial government’s spokesman Mir Jan Mohammad Buleda said the suicide bomber could not enter the Sadiq Shaheed ground because of extensive security arrangements made by police.

A spokesman for Jundullah told journalists on phone from an unspecified place that his organisation had carried out the attack on Maulana Fazl, but did not give any reason.

All markets and shops were closed soon after the blast and panic gripped the city. Security was beefed up and law-enforcement agencies started investigation into the attack.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014