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Six injured as blasts rock Swabi on Hoti's arrival
[Dawn] Six persons were maimed as two blasts rocked Swabi when Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti arrived in the district on an official visit on Monday.The first bomb, planted in a cycle of violence near Sehsat Medical Centre on Swabi-Jahangira road, went kaboom!as soon as the motorcade of chief minister passed through the area. The officials of bomb disposal squad said that three kilograms of explosives were used in the expulsion. No casualty was reported in the blast. The chief minister was on his way to inaugurate Swabi-Jahangira and Swabi-Topi roads. The second blast occurred in Shewa Adda that injured six persons including a traffic constable. Sources said that an bomb was planted in a bicycle parked in Shewa Adda Chowk that went off with a big bang, injuring six persons. The local people took part in rescue work and shifted the injured to a hospital in Kalu Khan. The injured were identified as Rashid Bahadar, Khursheed Ali, Shad Ali, Iqbal Hussain, Waris Khan and 11-year-old Sadiq Usman. Sources said that two of the injured were at death's door. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the chief minister didn't cancel a public meeting of Awami National Party and returned to its venue at Swabi grid station on the same route. The public meeting was shortened and only Provincial Minister for Usher and Zakat Zarshed Khan and Mr Hoti addressed it. "As you know, we were also welcomed by some other people (militants) here today," the chief minister said in his address. He said that after the kaboom security staff advised him to move back to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. instead of attending the public meeting. "I told the security staff to let me die with my brothers. The people, who were killed in mosques, in police uniform and in operations, all are our brothers and we want to stand with them," Mr Hoti said. Posted by: Fred 2012-10-24 |
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