On August 8, 2016, a suicide bombing in Civil Hospital, Quetta, killed 73 persons, the majority of them lawyers hailing from various districts of Balochistan. The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the constitution of an inquiry commission on October 6 during a suo motu case and nominated Justice Qazi Faiz Isa to the one member commission.
The scope of inquiry commission extended to both incidents that took place on August 8, namely, the assassination of Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Anwar Kasi and the explosion at Sandeman Provincial Hospital.
Public notices were issued to all interested parties to attend the hearing and provide information. An advance notice was issued to the provincial chief secretary which sought replies to 33 questions pertaining to pre-attack information, pre-attack developments, victims, treatment, compensation, and forensic evidence, among other matters.
The commission raised questions directly related to the two incidents such as the response of the police after the bomb blast, the effectiveness and hindrances in investigation, the identity of the terrorists and the ideology they espoused, the status of compensation to the dead and injured, the role of the federal government and intelligence agencies, and other matters of importance.
The commission went even further in its inquiry and looked into matters connecting the two attacks such as the causes of extremism, propagation of hate speech and literature, manner of proscribing organizations and persons under the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997, investigation methodologies employed in terrorism cases, the role of concerned governments and departments, and the effectiveness of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).
All in all, 45 persons testified before the commission along with in-camera briefings by police and intelligence agencies. The commission minutely examined both incidents and even established the identity of the suicide bomber who carried out the attack at the hospital and directed that both crime scenes be forensically examined by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency. The commission pointed out that even Balochistan’s inspector general of police did not appear to be familiar with the importance of a forensic examination.
The commission also unearthed the premises where the suicide vests and improvised explosive devices were made in Quetta and captured a trove of electric detonators, Kalashnikovs, ball bearings, remote controls and other paraphernalia used in suicide attacks. Furthermore, the terrorist’s hideout in Hurumzai tehsil of Pishin district was also raided in light of information and five terrorists later identified as Jehangir Bedani, Ali Hasan, Habib Ullah, Sameer Khan, and Noorullah, were killed.
The Quetta Commission Report says that a total of 17,503 terrorist attacks have occurred in Pakistan since January 1, 2001, till October 17, 2016, an average of three terrorist attacks a day. It also sheds light on the proscription of terrorist organisations under Anti-terrorism Act of 1997 and actions to be taken against its members. Furthermore, despite repeated letters written to the ministry of interior to ban Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, an organisation which has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in Balochistan, the ministry did not respond to the letters.
The Commission also remarks that even though Federal Government is all powerful to proscribed a terrorist organisation, ‘the people at the highest levels of government appear befuddled’.
The most damning observation made in the report concerns, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan about his meeting with Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, head of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Millat-e-Islamia and Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jammat on October, 21st 2016.
The commission also holds NACTA (National Counter Terrorism Authority) responsible for failing to develop a counter-terrorism strategy, carry out research on topics relevant to terrorism, and to liaise with international agencies. The report calls NACTA performance an “abject failure”.
The National Action Plan (NAP), approved by the government and all political parties and comprising of 20 points, also came under the Quetta Commission’s scrutiny. The commission cites lack of timelines, lack of clarity on responsibility for implementing the plan, and the lack of a mechanism to monitor progress, among other points of failure. The report by the commission also remarks that the work of the NACTA has been outsourced to the office of the National Security Adviser.
Along with the lack of coordination and clarity between police, levies and the Frontier Corps that has been cited as problematic when it comes to law enforcement, the commission also points out the unmonitored border crossings into and out of Iran and Afghanistan.
The SC’s suo motu case on the Quetta carnage is still sub judice, and the hearing was adjourned till February 28. Counsel for the Ministry of Interior Makhdoom Ali Khan has recused himself from the case citing a SC judgement terming the hiring of private counsels as ‘improper’.
