Pakistani authorities have arrested a man over a suicide attack at a mosque on Friday that killed at least 50 people. Police on Saturday picked up the suspect in Charsadda, the same district where a suicide bomber detonated around 10kg of explosives amid a packed 1,000-strong congregation celebrating the festival of Eid. "We're looking for another man who could be a second accomplice," a security official said. Reports said four people, including three Afghan nationals, were arrested late on Friday in a town four kilometres from the site of the attack. But it was unclear if the detentions at a religious school in the North West Front province were related to the blast.
Friday's bombing, apparently targeting Aftab Khan Sherpao, the former interior minister, was the second such attack on him in eight months. Sharif Virk, the provincial police chief, said that so far forensic evidence at the site of the blast was insufficient to give up any strong leads. "No head has been found from the scene," he said, referring to the fact that the heads of suicide bombers are often blown off by the force of the explosions and later found intact. "We have found four legs which we have sent for DNA test, but it could be little help unless we know the family."
Virk said the attack could be linked to armed groups in the adjacent Mohmand tribal region. The attack sparked anger and fears of further attacks should Pakistani forces crackdown on tribal fighters.
Fawad Khan, relative of a blast victim, said: "Why did these people, the government, spoil the situation in Swat, Bajaur and the Red Mosque? Now that they have done so, naturally even those people the militants are going to retaliate."
Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan, said: "It was widely expected that there would be attacks against Aftab Khan Sherpao ... he had been warned there would be revenge attacks." Besides being blamed for a security crackdown on armed tribal groups, many hold Sherpao personally responsible for the assault on a hardline mosque in Islamabad in July.