A Taliban suicide bomber killed eight people when he flattened the house of a senior superintendent of police in Karachi on Monday, as an attack on a market in Peshawar claimed another six lives. A woman and her eight-year-old son were among the dead in the Karachi attack. Crime Investigation Department Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Aslam Khan escaped unhurt, but his home was destroyed and his two children received minor injuries. Khan said he knew he was the target, saying that he had been threatened by al Qaeda-allied Taliban.
Khan heads the counter-terrorism unit of the CID, investigating militant cells in the port city. He hails from Abbottabad and his real name is Aslam Khan. However, he began being called Chaudhry after gaining popularity during his stint at CID. “It was a car bomb attack on my house,” he said. “I was receiving threats from the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP). Taliban are involved in this attack.” Neighbouring houses were also wrecked and four cars badly damaged, with a two-metre (six-foot) deep crater in front of Khan’s home, and rubble, mud and pieces of glass scattered over a large area.
“Eight people including six policemen have been killed and several others were injured,” Shoukat Hussain, another senior police officer, told AFP. “A child and a woman were also killed. It was a car suicide attack.” Talking to reporters outside the remains of his bungalow, Khan said, “I woke up from sleep and saw fire around. I ran towards the other rooms of the house and saw my family safe but bewildered. This was a cowardly act of Taliban. I am not scared of Taliban. Let me tell you that I will not spare them in the future.” “I will not be cowed. I will teach a lesson to the militants. I did not know that the terrorists were such cowards that they would attack sleeping children,” he said. Per details, a white double cabin pick up loaded with explosives hit the main gate of Khan house, killing eight people. Three policemen, Junaid Ahmed, Sohail Ahmed and Razaq Hussain, the guard of the neighboring house Mohammad Anwar and his son Mohammad Asif were among the dead. A school teacher, Mumtaz and her son Moeed were also killed.
Mumtaz was on way to her son’s school when the blast took place. Mumtaz taught Urdu at the primary section of a private school nearby and her son was enrolled in the same school. One victim could not be identified so far. Sindh Inspector General of Police Wajid Ali Durrani said more than 300kgs of explosives was used in the attack. Karachi Police chief Saud Mirza confirmed that Khan had received TTP threats. He said that he had formed a joint investigation team to probe into the suicide attack and the team would include officials from the CIA, SIU and CID. The security agencies have started investigation and the six CCTV cameras, fixed in Khan’s house, have been taken in custody by the investigators. According to CCTV footage, the suicide bomber was a young boy of around 20 years of age and detonated the vehicle outside Khan’s house, an official said. TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP over phone from an undisclosed location that “we claim responsibility for the attack. Aslam Khan has killed a number of our colleagues and also arrested and tortured many more”.
“He was on our hit list and he is still on our hit list,” Ehsan said, giving names of several other police and crime investigation department officials also targeted. “They will be killed soon,” he vowed.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah announced Rs 2 million for each deceased police official and Rs 500,000 each for two civilians killed in the attack.
One of the injured people, Nizamudin, is Khan’s cook. He told Pakistan Today that he was sleeping in his room when the blast took place. “We tried to come out of the house as we had got injuries in the incident,” he said. Later in the day in Peshawar, a motorcycle bomb killed at least six people and injured 28 others at a market selling CDs.
Bomb disposal official Hukam Khan said the 10-kilogramme bomb was attached to a motorcycle and was detonated remotely. “The bomb was affixed to a motorbike and detonated with a remote control,” Khan said, adding that the blast damaged 30 shops, with 20 completely destroyed.