Revenge suicide hits kill 82 in Charsadda

& NADER BUNERI CHARSADDA - At least 82 people were killed and 115 others injured in twine back-to-back suicide blasts in front of the main gate of FC Training Centre at Shabqadar in Charsadda district Friday morning. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility in a statement shortly after the bombings, saying the attack was in revenge for the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2. According to the AFP, Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said: This was the first revenge for Osamas martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Locals and eyewitnesses said at around 6:00 am, a suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle blew himself up when the newly-trained FC cadets, who had completed their training a day earlier, were embarking the vehicles to leave for their homes. The blast killed and injured many of the recruits. It was an ear splitting voice heard by many in the area and a huge smoke was rising from the blast site. The colleagues of the targeted FC men rushed to the site and launched rescue operation. Hardly three minutes went by, when another suicide bomber stated to be on foot reached there and detonated his vest, causing a horrific bloodbath. An eyewitness said: I saw human flesh scattered all around. It was like a doomsday. I may never be able to forget this all my life. The explosions were so severe in intensity that the entire area was jolted with the impact. Around 12 vehicles were reduced to scrap. It is the deadliest attack since July 2010 when a suicide bomber killed 105 persons in Mohmand Agency. Official sources said the toll was expected to rise and might end up with the highest number of law enforcement officials dead in a single terrorist attack in the recent years. Soon after the twin blasts, Edhi ambulances rushed to the site and shifted the dead and wounded to the District Headquarters Hospital, Charsadda while some of the critical injured persons were rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. Of them, 40 injured persons are stated to be in critical condition. The dead included 69 FC recruits and 11 civilians, official sources said. Soon after the blasts, the district administration beefed up the security. Police and bomb disposal squad rushed towards the site and cordoned off the area. City Police Chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the attack might be the reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden and Mohmand Agency operation. He said the bombers attacked the FC cadets when they were preparing to return to their homes on a 10-day leave after six months of training at the facility. District police officer Charsadda Nisar Marwat confirmed that both the blasts were suicide and the main target was FC recruits. According to bomb disposal squad, around 10-16 kilogram explosive material was used in both the blasts which wreaked havoc near the training centre. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the bomb blasts in Shabqadar, targeting the FC cadets. The President expressed his condolences with the families of those who lost their lives in the dastardly terrorist act. He said the government and people were determined to defeat terrorism and such gruesome acts could not deter their resolve. Prime Minister Gilani expressed deep grief over the loss of precious lives. He said militants had no regard for human life or religion and they were pursuing their own nefarious agenda. Agencies add: Pools of blood strewn with soldiers caps and shoes lay on the road outside the academy as the wounded, looking dazed with parts of their clothes ripped away by shrapnel, were loaded into trucks. Gul Momin, his leg in plaster, recalled the horror when the explosions turned a festive Friday morning into a bloodbath. We had been very happy, he added. I was loading my bag into the bus when the blast took place. I was seriously injured but wasnt knocked out. I crawled towards a safe place, then I heard another huge blast. Everybody was lying on the ground and crying. I saw people lying in blood and dying. There were dead bodies and body parts. I cant put it into words. Shahid Ali, 28, was on his way to his shop when the bombs went off. He tried to help survivors. A young boy was lying near a wrecked van asked me to take him to hospital. I got help and we got him into a vehicle, Ali said. A 25-year-old paramilitary constable was sliced by shrapnel in the neck, left leg and back shoulder. He said he had gone out to buy some bread while the cadets were milling around preparing to go home. When I opened my eyes, I saw destruction everywhere. I saw cadets screaming and crying for help lying on the ground. It was horrible. Everything was ruined. It was a blood pool, Hidayat Noor told AFP from his hospital bed.

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