Suicide blast kills 13 as Pakistani Taliban avenge hanged extremist

Mumtaz Qadri was hailed as a hero by extremists for killing the liberal governor of Punjab province in 2011 after he called for reform of the country’s blasphemy law.

A man looks into a destroyed car at the scene of a suicide bomb attack that targeted the local court in Charsadda, Pakistan on March 7, 2016. At least eight people were killed when a suicide bomber taShow more

Peshawar // A suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 23 in north-west Pakistan on Monday in an attack claimed by the Taliban as revenge for the hanging of an extremist assassin last week.

The bomber struck as lawyers and litigants were arriving at a court complex during the morning rush hour in the town of Shabqadar.

Police official Fayaz Khan said 13 people had been killed and 23 wounded after the bomber blew himself up inside the complex, with the toll confirmed by a local administration official.

The Pakistani Taliban’s Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it avenged the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri.

Qadri was hailed as a hero by extremists for killing the liberal governor of Punjab province in 2011 after he called for reform of the country’s blasphemy law.

He was hanged on February 29 in what analysts described as a “key moment” in Pakistan’s long fight against militancy, saying it demonstrated the government’s resolve to uphold the rule of law rather than allow extremism to flourish.

His funeral brought up to 100,000 people on to the streets hailing him as a hero.

Monday’s blast also targeted the court complex because Pakistan’s judiciary was strengthening “un-Islamic laws”, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Taliban.

Authorities said two children and two policemen were among the dead, with regional police official Saeed Wazir praising the “brave” effort by officers who “sacrificed their lives”.

Shair Qadir, president of the local bar association, said they had requested security after receiving threats of an attack, but no action was taken.

Shabqadar is near the Mohmand tribal district, one of seven semi-autonomous regions bordering Afghanistan where militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban had established bases in the past.

Islamabad launched a military offensive in the tribal areas in 2014 that has reportedly killed thousands of militants and pushed the rest over the border into Afghanistan, resulting in improved security inside Pakistan.

However, insurgents associated with the Pakistani Taliban occasionally carry out attacks from bases inside Afghanistan.

Shabqadar is about 30 kilometres west of Charsadda, where extremists attacked a university on January 20 in a rampage that left 21 dead.

* Agence France-Presse