Suicide bomber kills 30 at policeman’s funeral in Pakistan

A Taliban suicide bomber killed 30 people at the funeral of a policeman in Pakistan yesterday, including 21 police officers, in the third deadly attack on government targets in two weeks.

A Reuters reporter at the scene in the western city of Quetta described chaos as injured police struggled to carry bloodstained colleagues into ambulances.

“They are not Muslims. They are not humans,” Insp Gen Mushtaq Sukhera said. “We have no other option but to fight against terrorists.”

The funeral was for a policeman who had been gunned down earlier yesterday.

At least 30 people were confirmed dead and 62 wounded, said Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, the provincial chief secretary. Twenty-one of the dead were police officers. Others had not been identified but children attending the funeral were among the dead and wounded, Mr Mohammed said.

Fayyaz Sumbal, the deputy inspector general of operations for Quetta, was among those killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

“We killed the station-house officer and then we targeted the funeral to kill the other officers,” Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said. He said the Taliban carried out the attack in revenge for the arrest and mistreatment of their fighters.

Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, is home to many militants, including the Taliban, sectarian groups and separatist fighters.

Insurgency
The explosion, at a supposedly secure location in one of Pakistan's most heavily militarised cities, again called into question the ability of the security services to defend themselves and curb the escalating insurgency.

The Quetta attack was captured live on television. Images were broadcast of mourners and journalists scrambling away from the mosque. Weeping policemen wandered among the blood and body parts, looking for colleagues, or sat in shock amid abandoned shoes and other belongings.

The suicide bomber was wearing a jacket packed with ball bearings and shrapnel. He had tried to enter the mosque but was stopped by police and detonated his explosives outside, several witnesses said.

It was not yet clear how he passed through several other layers of tight security.

Last week more than 100 militants attacked a prison in Dera Ismail Khan, freeing 250 prisoners, including Taliban commanders. – (Reuters)