Chaman - Killah Abdullah District Police Officer Sajid Khan Mohmand embraced martyrdom while another 15, including his security guard and driver, sustained wounds in a suicide attack in the Afghan bordering district on Monday.

“The bomber targeted the DPO at 11:10am near Eidgah on busy Boghra Road when he was on a routine patrol,” Killah Abdullah Deputy Commissioner Qaiser Khan Nasar said. He said two policemen and a Levies man were also among the wounded. No group claimed the attack till filing of this report.

Backed by lawmen, rescuers shifted the injured to Chaman Civil Hospital from where eight critically wounded were airlifted to Quetta through a Balochistan Frontier Corps copter. Four of the wounded were stated to be stable in Chaman.

Chaman Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Akhtar confirmed martyrdom of Sajid. He said 12 people, including two policemen and a Levies man, were brought to the hospital.

A seriously wounded policeman and another two injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and five others to Quetta Civil Hospital. “Five wounded persons have been brought from Chaman,” Quetta Civil Hospital spokesman Dr Waseem Baig said.

They were identified as Nooruddin, son of Fazal Din; Rozi Muhammad, son of Sultan; Ainuddin, son of Muhammad Anwar; Ghulam Nabi, son of Muhammad Shah and Abdul Hakim, son of Gul Muhammad.

Dr Waseem Baig said Ainuddin’s condition was serious. According to APP, three injured policemen are Muhammad Younas, Muhammad Shafiq and driver Muhammad Ashraf.

The Chaman attack comes a few weeks after a car-bomb attack near the office of the Inspector General of Balochistan Police on June 23 (a couple of days before Eidul Fitr) left more than a dozen people dead. Seven of them were policemen.

Funeral

Funeral prayers for DPO Sajid were offered at the Quetta Police Lines. Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, ministers and lawmakers, IGP Ahsan Mehboob, FC IG, senior officials and scores of people attended the funeral prayers.

DPO Sajid’s son posted on the social media that funeral prayers for his father would be offered at 9:30pm in Doranpur, Khan Bahadar Colony on Ring Road in Peshawar.  The martyred police officer belonged to Mohmand Agency.

Tribute

Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri paid tribute to DPO Sajid Khan, calling him a brave and honest officer. “He (Sajid Khan) fought bravely in the war on terror and played a vital role in the operation against terrorists,” he said. Reiterating government’s resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country, Zehri said: “We will purge our land of terrorists.”

“The police and security forces are rendering unprecedented sacrifices, which won’t be wasted,” the CM said, adding that peace would be restored at every cost. Expressing sympathies with the family of the DPO, he said the people of Balochistan and the government stand by them. He announced Rs10 million and a residential plot for the family of Sajid Khan.

Condemnation

Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai condemned the Chaman suicide attack and promised punishment to culprits. “The elements spreading fear and panic in the society deserve no mercy,” he said in his condemnation message and directed the law enforcers to bring the culprits to book at all costs.

He also offered his condolences to the family of Sajid Khan and prayed for early recovery of the wounded.

Condemning the Chaman attack, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti reiterated government’s resolve against terrorism and vowed to continue the war on terrorism. He expressed his sympathies with the bereaved family of the DPO and directed the officials to provide all help to the injured. He paid tribute to the police for making sacrifices in the war on terrorism, saying they would be remembered.

The city markets were shut down following the terror strike. “We have shut down markets,” Chaman Anjuman-i-Tajiran Secretary General Dad Shah Pezwak said. He condemned the attack and expressed his sympathies with the terror victims.

APP adds: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, Deputy Chairman Moulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri,  leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, leader of the opposition Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and other politicians also condemned the terror hit.