By Alok Bhatt
 Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KOHAT, Pakistan – An immense suicide-blast in the northwestern town of Kohat took the lives of over 30 civilians and wounded 80 others.  The explosion ravaged an urban market area in a predominantly Shia region located approximately 40 miles south of Peshawar.  Victims and witnesses believed the attack to have been perpetrated by an extremist Sunni group.  Sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shias have historically afflicted northwestern Pakistan since al-Qaida and other extremist Muslim groups occupied its surrounding areas.  This recent attack represents only one of many indiscriminate assaults on Shia civilians.  Just one day prior, a bomb detonated in a Kohat bazaar left six wounded, but fortunately caused no fatalities.  An August 30th bombing in the Swat Valley region of northwest Pakistan killed 14 police recruits.  The repeated attacks upon northwest Pakistan demonstrate the extremist Sunni objective to eradicate the Shia Muslim minority.  The geographic proximity of northwest Pakistan to Afghanistan makes the region especially susceptible to insurgencies by Taliban forces and other militant extremist organizations.  

Beside the loss of life and severe injury to survivors, the suicide-attack caused catastrophic damage to Shia-owned kiosks, restaurants, the Hikmat Ali Hotel, and a number of vehicles along the market road.  Witnesses recalled seeing a bearded man drive into the market in a van then detonate his cargo of explosives, destroying himself and the immediate area.  The impact of the blast collapsed the roofs of surrounding buildings, trapping many victims beneath heavy dust and rubble.  Onlookers came to the aid of those pinned under the wreckage until machinery arrived on the scene to lift and clear the debris.  Media footage showed survivors emerging from the target zone covered in blood and bandages.

 

 

A lesser-known Sunni extremist group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi claimed responsibility for the Korat bomb attacks.  It declared the blast an act of vengeance for their religious leader, Maulana M. Amin, who was killed in June.  

The Pakistan military has been engaging in military offensives against extremist groups in northwest Pakistan since April.  While the strikes have been proving effective against militant groups, officials admit the frustration and difficulty of trying to eliminate suicide-bomb attacks.  However, with the aid of U.S. military strikes, Pakistan’s armed forces will continues to beat back insurgent attacks to avoid attacks in urban areas.   

 For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Deadly blast in Pakistan market – 18 September 2009

BBC News – Carnage in Pakistan Market Attack – 18 September 2009

MSNBC – At least 29 die as blast hits Pakistan hotel – 18 September 2009