DTN News: Pakistan TODAY January 02, 2010 ~ Death Toll At 95 In Pakistan Volleyball Bombing
DTN News: Pakistan TODAY January 02, 2010 ~ Death Toll At 95 In Pakistan Volleyball Bombing*Police say suicide bomber drove onto crowded field in North-West Frontier Province town of Lakki Marwat, detonated explosive-laden vehicle*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) KARACHI, Pakistan - January 02, 2010: More bodies are being pulled from the rubble of a sports complex in northwestern Pakistan, raising the death toll in Friday's attack on a volleyball game to at least 95.
Survivors prepared for funerals Saturday, while officials warn the number of victims is likely to increase as recovery efforts moved through their second day.
Police say the suicide bomber drove onto a crowded field in the North-West Frontier Province town of Lakki Marwat Friday and detonated his explosive-laden vehicle while hundreds of spectators watched the match, including women and children.
The blast caused nearby homes to collapse and damaged a nearby mosque where tribal elders were meeting.
Police say that meeting may have been the attacker's intended target.
Some officials have raised concerns about meager medical facilities in Lakki Marwat. Doctors from surrounding areas have come to the town to help treat the more than 100 wounded.
There have been no claims of responsibility, but provincial police chief Malik Naveed tells VOA the bombing may be a militant revenge attack against local residents who set up a militia force to combat Taliban insurgents. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement Friday, saying the United States strongly condemns the attack and will continue to stand with Pakistan in its efforts to combat violent extremism and bolster democracy.
Clinton said terrorists have targeted schools, markets, mosques, "and now a volleyball game." She said the U.S. supports Pakistan in its efforts to chart a "future free from fear and intimidation."
Friday's attack was the deadliest in Pakistan in more than two months.
Suicide Bomber Kills 75 At Village Volleyball Match In Pakistan's Northwest . A suicide bomber blew up his sport-utility vehicle in the middle of a village volleyball game in northwestern Pakistan on Friday afternoon, killing 75 people and injuring more than 100 in a community that has repeatedly defied Taliban extremists.
Police speculated that the horrific bombing in the village of Shah Hassan Khel, in the Lakki Marwat district, was an act of reprisal against area leaders who last year formed private militias to oppose the Taliban and recently turned in a group of extremist fighters to the authorities.
The attack was the latest in a string of bombings across Pakistan that have increasingly targeted civilians and killed more than 500 people since September. The Taliban has asserted responsibility for many of them but denied carrying out others.
On Monday, an explosion targeting a Shiite religious procession killed 44 people in the southern port city of Karachi. On Friday, the city of 18 million people was virtually shut down in protest. An October bombing in a women's bazaar in Peshawar, in the northwest, left more then 80 people dead.
The northwestern region -- near the Afghan border as well as the tribal area of South Waziristan, where the Pakistani army has been carrying out operations against Taliban forces since October -- has borne the brunt of the violence. Assailants have struck markets, mosques and other crowded civilian targets there, but Friday's bombing was the first to single out a sporting event.
Several previous attacks were clearly carried out in retaliation against communities and leaders who resisted the Taliban. In November, a bombing in a rural market killed a mayor who had openly defied the extremists. As more communities begin fighting back, there is concern that reprisal attacks will increase.
Among those killed and wounded by Friday's powerful explosion were women and children watching the volleyball match, on a playing field in the heart of the village. The bombing also damaged houses and other buildings. The area's remoteness caused delays in transporting the wounded to hospitals, and the death toll rose all evening. People sit beside a victim of a suicide bombing at a local hospital in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. A suicide bomber set off an explosives-laden vehicle on a field during a volleyball tournament Friday in northwest Pakistan, killing scores of people and wounding dozens, police said.Anwar Kamal Marwat, a politician and tribal leader who organized anti-Taliban militias in the Lakki Marwat district, said by telephone from Peshawar that the bombing was definitely intended to retaliate against the armed and organized villagers, who had recently arrested and turned in 24 Taliban members.
"They have been punished for their active role against the militants," Marwat said, noting that the Taliban influence had been growing in the village area before the private militias struck back. The local police chief, Ayub Khan, echoed that assessment, telling the Associated Press that the bombing appeared to be a reaction to the "expulsion" of local Taliban fighters. He said that the bomber's vehicle contained 500 pounds of high-intensity explosives and that a second suicide vehicle may have escaped from the area.
The bombing took place as the latest airstrike by suspected U.S. drones struck a car carrying three suspected Taliban militants in North Waziristan. A missile strike Thursday struck a house in the same region, killing three people, according to Pakistani officials.
bomber blew up his sport-utility vehicle in the middle of a village volleyball game in northwestern Pakistan on Friday afternoon, killing 75 people and injuring more than 100 in a community that has repeatedly defied Taliban extremists.
Police speculated that the horrific bombing in the village of Shah Hassan Khel, in the Lakki Marwat district, was an act of reprisal against area leaders who last year formed private militias to oppose the Taliban and recently turned in a group of extremist fighters to the authorities.
The attack was the latest in a string of bombings across Pakistan that have increasingly targeted civilians and killed more than 500 people since September. The Taliban has asserted responsibility for many of them but denied carrying out others.
On Monday, an explosion targeting a Shiite religious procession killed 44 people in the southern port city of Karachi. On Friday, the city of 18 million people was virtually shut down in protest. An October bombing in a women's bazaar in Peshawar, in the northwest, left more then 80 people dead.
The northwestern region -- near the Afghan border as well as the tribal area of South Waziristan, where the Pakistani army has been carrying out operations against Taliban forces since October -- has borne the brunt of the violence. Assailants have struck markets, mosques and other crowded civilian targets there, but Friday's bombing was the first to single out a sporting event.
Several previous attacks were clearly carried out in retaliation against communities and leaders who resisted the Taliban. In November, a bombing in a rural market killed a mayor who had openly defied the extremists. As more communities begin fighting back, there is concern that reprisal attacks will increase.
Among those killed and wounded by Friday's powerful explosion were women and children watching the volleyball match, on a playing field in the heart of the village. The bombing also damaged houses and other buildings. The area's remoteness caused delays in transporting the wounded to hospitals, and the death toll rose all evening. 
People sit beside a victim of a suicide bombing at a local hospital in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. A suicide bomber set off an explosives-laden vehicle on a field during a volleyball tournament Friday in northwest Pakistan, killing scores of people and wounding dozens, police said.
Anwar Kamal Marwat, a politician and tribal leader who organized anti-Taliban militias in the Lakki Marwat district, said by telephone from Peshawar that the bombing was definitely intended to retaliate against the armed and organized villagers, who had recently arrested and turned in 24 Taliban members.
"They have been punished for their active role against the militants," Marwat said, noting that the Taliban influence had been growing in the village area before the private militias struck back. The local police chief, Ayub Khan, echoed that assessment, telling the Associated Press that the bombing appeared to be a reaction to the "expulsion" of local Taliban fighters. He said that the bomber's vehicle contained 500 pounds of high-intensity explosives and that a second suicide vehicle may have escaped from the area.
The bombing took place as the latest airstrike by suspected U.S. drones struck a car carrying three suspected Taliban militants in North Waziristan. A missile strike Thursday struck a house in the same region, killing three people, according to Pakistani officials.
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