17 killed in Chakwal suicide attack

Pakistani paramilitary policemen stand guard at a bunker following a suicide blast at the Frontier Constabulary camp in Islamabad. AFP Photo/Aamir Qureshi.

17 killed in Chakwal suicide attack
Sunday, 05 Apr, 2009

ISLAMABAD: A bomb exploded in a religious centre for minority Shia Muslims in Chakwal 100km from the Federal capital on Sunday, killing 17 people and wounding around a 100, police said.

‘According to information received so far at least 17 people have died and some 100 were injured in the suicide attack,’ Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told AFP

‘The bomber was intercepted at the entrance otherwise he could have caused large scale casualties,’ Sanaullah said.

‘We have sent two helicopters to move the injured to hospitals in Islamabad,’ he added.

Blast victims are being taken to the local DHQ Hospital in Chakwal.

Police said some 1,200 people were attending the religious gathering when the attack occurred.

‘Our policemen deployed at the gate tried to stop the attacker from going inside where some 1,200 people were attending a majlis,’ senior police official Chaudhry Zulfiqar told AFP.

According to an eye witness’ account, Adeel Raza, a young man about 16-17 years old, dressed in black, got out of a car and detonated his explosives at the entrance of the Imambargah.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the attack and has ordered an immediate inquiry.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director has deployed his team at the site of the attack and is expecting a report by this evening.

The blast came a day after eight paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in the capital, Islamabad.