Terrorists Stike In Tribal Areas As Obama Annouces New Plan For War On Terror
Muhammad Khurshid
March 28, 2009
Terrorists have carried out a big bomb blast in a mosque in Khyber Agency, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan at a time when US President Barack Obama was announcing new plan for leading the war on terror to its logical conclusion. Initial reports said that more than 100 people have been killed in the attack. According to newspaper reports,a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people when he blew himself up in a crowded mosque near a security check post in Jamrud town of Khyber Agency on Friday. Atleast 70 people are feared dead in the blast.
Police, paramilitary forces and government officials were among the congregation in the mosque, about 30 km (20 miles) from the Afghan border. The bomber set off his explosives as a cleric began prayers.
"So far we have counted 50 bodies," Tariq Hayat Khan, the top administrator in the Khyber region, told Geo news, adding the toll could rise. Between 250 and 300 people were in the mosque and about 125 wounded had been taken to Sherpao, Lady Reading and other hospitals in Peshawar, he said. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber was standing in the mosque. It's a two-storey building and it has collapsed," he said.
Worshippers searched through piles of bricks, pulling out bodies and carrying them to ambulances in sheets and on rope beds. There was no claim of responsibility but militants had earlier threatened to blow up the police post next to the mosque, residents of the area said."It's surprising, those who claim that they are doing jihad and then carry out suicide attacks inside mosques during Friday prayers," Khan said.
"They are infidels. They are enemies of Pakistan. They are enemies of Islam," he said.
Media reports said that US President Barack Obama on Friday unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the top goal was to destroy al Qaeda.
Obama said in a speech the situation in Afghanistan was ´increasingly perilous.´
Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the US homeland from its safe-haven in Pakistan,´ he said.
Pak-Afghan region has become the most dangerous place in the world,´ Obama said in the opening section of his speech.
He also called on his allies to help Pakistan out of its economic crisis by supporting the IMF package for Pakistan. Obama announced an aid of 1.5-billion-dollar-worth of ´direct support to the people of Pakistan in the next five years.´
The US president said that his country needs international support increase military presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying ´Pakistan needs help in going after al Qaeda.´
We must help isolate Al Qaeda from Pakistani people,´ Obama said and he also pressed that security demands a new sense of shared responsibility.
Obama warned against high expectations from the US, saying, ´we will not and cannot provide a blank cheque to Pakistan.´
The US president also highlighted the importance of assistance in reconstruction and development in the region.
Our efforts will fail in Pakistan and Afghanistan if we do not assist in development and reconstruction,´ he said.
Campaign against extremism cannot succeed with bullets and bombs alone,´ Obama warned.
The End
Police, paramilitary forces and government officials were among the congregation in the mosque, about 30 km (20 miles) from the Afghan border. The bomber set off his explosives as a cleric began prayers.
"So far we have counted 50 bodies," Tariq Hayat Khan, the top administrator in the Khyber region, told Geo news, adding the toll could rise. Between 250 and 300 people were in the mosque and about 125 wounded had been taken to Sherpao, Lady Reading and other hospitals in Peshawar, he said. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber was standing in the mosque. It's a two-storey building and it has collapsed," he said.
Worshippers searched through piles of bricks, pulling out bodies and carrying them to ambulances in sheets and on rope beds. There was no claim of responsibility but militants had earlier threatened to blow up the police post next to the mosque, residents of the area said."It's surprising, those who claim that they are doing jihad and then carry out suicide attacks inside mosques during Friday prayers," Khan said.
"They are infidels. They are enemies of Pakistan. They are enemies of Islam," he said.
Media reports said that US President Barack Obama on Friday unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the top goal was to destroy al Qaeda.
Obama said in a speech the situation in Afghanistan was ´increasingly perilous.´
Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the US homeland from its safe-haven in Pakistan,´ he said.
Pak-Afghan region has become the most dangerous place in the world,´ Obama said in the opening section of his speech.
He also called on his allies to help Pakistan out of its economic crisis by supporting the IMF package for Pakistan. Obama announced an aid of 1.5-billion-dollar-worth of ´direct support to the people of Pakistan in the next five years.´
The US president said that his country needs international support increase military presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying ´Pakistan needs help in going after al Qaeda.´
We must help isolate Al Qaeda from Pakistani people,´ Obama said and he also pressed that security demands a new sense of shared responsibility.
Obama warned against high expectations from the US, saying, ´we will not and cannot provide a blank cheque to Pakistan.´
The US president also highlighted the importance of assistance in reconstruction and development in the region.
Our efforts will fail in Pakistan and Afghanistan if we do not assist in development and reconstruction,´ he said.
Campaign against extremism cannot succeed with bullets and bombs alone,´ Obama warned.
The End
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