PAKISTAN: As the death toll of the suicide blast rises, residents of Hangu worry about the security situation in the country

Record ID: 487683

  • Title: PAKISTAN: As the death toll of the suicide blast rises, residents of Hangu worry about the security situation in the country
  • Date: 28th May 2011
  • Summary: HANGU, PAKISTAN (MAY 27, 2011) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING AROUND CRATER CAUSED BY BLAST CRATER MORE OF PEOPLE BESIDE CRATER RESCUE WORK BLAST SITE RESCUE WORKERS DIGGING BICYCLE DAMAGED BY BLAST LYING ON ROADSIDE VEHICLE DESTROYED BY BLAST/ DAMAGED SHOPS (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) WATCHMAN OF BANK CLOSE TO BLAST SITE, SHAHZAD KHAN, SAYING "I was standing outside the bank w
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4NRYUYZTCDOYNYA3YYGK2KTFU
  • Story Text: Residents of the small Pakistani town of Hangu were in a state of shock on Friday (May 27), the morning after a suicide bomber killed at least 25 people in the latest militant attack since the death of Osama bin Laden which has angered Pakistan and led to a call for the United States to withdraw some of its military trainers.
    A suicide car-bomber set off explosives outside a police station in the northwestern town of Hangu a day after a similar attack destroyed a police station in the city of Peshawar.
    Police said at least 25 persons, including 10 policemen, were killed and 60 others injured.
    The death toll continued to rise as more dead bodies were pulled out from the rubble.
    Shahzad Khan, watchman of the Agriculture Bank located close to the blast site, said the destruction caused by the blast was unbelievable.
    "I was standing outside the bank when I heard the sound of an explosion. We rushed here to find dead bodies lying all around and everything totally destroyed. Our Agriculture Bank has also been badly damaged," Shahzad Khan told Reuters Television.
    The killing of bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani town on May 2 has sparked a wave of militant attacks and has also led to a sharp erosion of trust between Pakistan and its ally, the United States.
    A resident of Hangu said Pakistan needed to review its foreign policy, especially with regard to the U.S.
    "The government should stop being a slave to America and review its policy so these blasts can come to an end. But why should the government care? They are relaxing in their palaces. It is the poor people who are being wiped out," said Waqar-ul-Hasan, a workshop apprentice.
    Pakistani Taliban militants, allied with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility. They have vowed revenge for bin Laden's death.
    The raid that killed bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Islamabad, intensified U.S. questions about Pakistan's possible role in sheltering militants, straining an already fragile relationship.
    But many Pakistanis saw the top-secret U.S. raid as a violation of sovereignty and some members of parliament have asked for a review of ties with Washington, which gives Pakistan billions of dollars in aid to help in the war against Islamist militants.
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , who arrived in Pakistan on Friday for a short visit, told a news conference in Paris on Thursday, praised Pakistan as a "good partner" but added that the U.S. had "a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet." She gave no details.
    Pakistan has received $20.7 billion worth of U.S. assistance over the past decade, about two-thirds of it military aid intended to improve the army's capabilities against militants.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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