Desperadoes attack university in Islamabad

Dawn, Wednesday, 21 Oct, 2009


http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-blast1-in-islamabad-qs-07

ISLAMABAD: Three girls were among six people killed on Tuesday in twin suicide attacks inside the International Islamic University, Islamabad. Two blocks were severely damaged.

This is the first time that militants have targeted women and a prestigious Islamic educational institution.

The blasts took place in quick succession in segregated blocks for girls and boys in the university’s campus in the capital’s H-10 sector.

A bomber barged into the women-only facility despite fierce resistance put up by a local worker, blowing himself up at the entrance of the girls’ cafeteria.

The other bomber detonated his explosives-laden jacket on the first floor of the Imam Abu Hanifa block.

A string of attacks have rocked Peshawar, Swat, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Islamabad since Oct 5, killing more than 250 people. The bombings have made October one of the bloodiest months since the beginning of the terrorist attacks.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the strikes.

The incident took place amid reports about threats to educational institutions, some of which decided to close their facilities for a few days.

However, officials of the Islamic University said they were not aware of any direct threat.

‘We were hearing that some schools were being closed down, but we never received any specific threat,’ an outraged Prof Parveen Tariq Agha, the in-charge of the women’s wing, told Dawn.

She rejected suggestion of a security lapse and said the university’s premises were properly secured. But, she said, no one could have guessed that a suicide bomber would target girls in this manner. Other teachers were equally outraged.

‘This is a cowardly act,’ another faculty member said. ‘Those who target students, particularly women, cannot even be considered human beings,’ she said.

The new campus of the International Islamic university is spread over several acres and houses over 17,000 students, including 6,000 women.

There are 2,000 foreign students from 45 countries, but mostly from China and African countries.

Sources said that security and intelligence agencies had information that terrorists would strike a university on Tuesday.

The police said one of the attackers, who was carrying five to seven kilograms of explosives, blew himself outside the office of the chairman of the Sharia Department, killing two people and creating a hole in the office wall and cracking adjacent walls.

Eyewitnesses said that shards of glass and body parts lay scattered in the corridor. Nearby rooms, including a conference room and classes, were damaged by the blast.

The other suicide bomber, they said, struck the girl’s cafeteria after 3pm. Pellets mixed with the explosives also damaged a large area, perforating roofs and walls.

Investigators said they had found skin attached to a forehead and an ear, which they believed were of one of the attackers.

The other attacker, wearing a vest containing five to eight kilograms of explosives, had disguised himself as a woman and was wearing a colourful shawl. He was intercepted by a worker identified as Pervez Masih when he tried to enter the girls’ cafeteria.

It is believed had Mr Masih not stopped the suicide bomber, the death toll would have been higher because about 50 students were having lunch at that time.

A leg believed to be that of the suicide bomber was found in the cafeteria. There was some confusion about the gender of the suicide bomber.

Some students said they had spotted a ‘woman’ acting suspiciously near the cafeteria, but there was no official confirmation.

Shortly after the blast, the area was cordoned off as teams of police, intelligence agencies, bomb disposal squad, civil defence, and doctors arrived at the scene.

Rescue workers said they had removed 37 injured people to nearby hospitals, where two of the injured woman students died. Their colleagues identified them only as Hina and Seher.

A 21-year-old suspect, sporting a light beard and wearing white shalwar kamiz, was arrested from the cafeteria while filming the devastation under the nose of the security personnel.

The man, believed to be an accomplice of the suicide bombers, told police that he lived in a nearby slum. But he had no answer when asked why he was making the video.

Another suspect, said to be in his 20s, was also arrested near the Imam Abu Hanifa Block. He is said to be a resident of Sargodha.

The police said that both of them had failed to come up with convincing explanations about their presence at the scene.

Three other suspects were picked up from a slum in I-11 sector.

Investigators said that the chairman of the Imam Abu Hanifa Block was the attackers’ prime target because he was ‘known for his liberal views’, but he was not present in his office at that time. Interior Minister Rehman Malik faced humiliation for the second time in a week when students compelled him to leave the campus with a hail of stones.

The minister was accompanied by senior officials of the interior ministry and local administration.