Suicide Attacks in North West Frontier Province

• December 24: Four persons were killed and 24 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security post in Peshawar. Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (Coordination) Muhammad Alam Shinwari said that four persons, including one Policeman and three civilians, were killed and 24 injured in the attack, which was carried out using a suicide jacket packed with eight kilogrammes of explosives. The bomber struck at the junction of Mall Road and Arbab Road in front of an insurance company’s office, where a Security Force post had been set up to inspect vehicles. A policeman said the bomber was on foot and detonated explosives strapped to his body when Policemen stopped him at the post.

• December 22: Three people, including a woman, were killed and another 24 persons injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Peshawar Press Club in Peshawar of NWFP. The building is situated on the Sher Shah Suri Road close to the Cantonment Railway Station. Lady Reading Hospital officials confirmed the toll in the first ever suicide attack in the country aimed specifically at journalists. They said two of the bodies were identified as police constable Riazuddin and a passer-by, Rubina. Rubina, who died of a cardiac arrest, was traveling in a rickshaw close to the press club when the blast occurred. Peshawar Press Club accountant Mian Iqbal Shah succumbed to his injury at the hospital later. Several passers-by, including those travelling in a minibus, were injured in the blast besides Peshawar Press Club employees Yasir, Ayub and Kamran. A photojournalist, Khurram Pervez, also sustained injuries in the blast. Peshawar City Police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told reporters that the suicide attacker had tried to enter the premises. The Police guard at the gate frisked the man and tried to overpower him when he discovered that the person was wearing a suicide vest, however, the bomber detonated his vest during the scuffle. The press club employee Yasir Jamil, who was also injured in the blast said that the suicide bomber was trying to enter the press club when the Police guard stopped him. He said the attacker had an argument with the guard, and blew himself up moments later. He said the bomber had a dark complexion and short height and seemed around 18 to 19 years of age.

• December 18: 12 persons, mostly worshippers, were killed and 32 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden van near a mosque in the Police Lines in Dir Lower District of NWFP. "The worshipers were coming out after offering the Friday prayers from the Civil Colony mosque in the Police Lines when the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the wall," an eyewitness said. "Eleven persons were killed and 32 others injured in the explosion, which occurred at 1:30 PM (PST)," a Police official said. It was the first incident of its kind in Dir Lower, where SFs in the summer crushed a Taliban-led insurgency concentrated in Maidan and Adinzai tehsil (revenue division) of the Dir Lower District.

• December 17: A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering in Bannu of NWFP, but guests at the ceremony escaped unhurt. Senior Police Official Muhammad Ayub said that it was a "miracle" that no one was killed or injured in the bombing in Essakhel village. "A young boy, aged 13 or 14, blew himself up in the middle of guests who were visiting the house of a local political leader to congratulate him on his return from Haj," Ayub said. The boy was killed by his suicide vest, but Police said it was possible that not all the explosives detonated, while a hand grenade the bomber was carrying was also defused at the scene.

• December 7: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court in Peshawar, the provincial capital of NWFP, killing 12 people, including two Policemen, and injuring 50 others. It was the second suicide attack on a court in the city in three weeks. The earlier target was the Judicial Complex on the Khyber Road and the bombing claimed 22 lives. The two Policemen who died were identified as head Constable Naseer Ahmed and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ruhullah. The blast damaged the court building and damaged windows of the nearby MPA hostel, petrol station and some other buildings. About half a dozen vehicles and motorcycles were destroyed. Peshawar District Coordination Officer Sahibzada Mohammad Anees said the bomber had come in an auto-rickshaw. He tried to enter the session’s court building, but when the Policeman on duty stopped him for a search, the man blew himself up. Dr Hameed Afridi of the Lady Reading Hospital said that 54 victims had been brought to the hospital. Six of them were brought dead and three others died in the hospital. The condition of six of the inured was critical, he said. Mohammad Tanveer told Dawn that the bomber had used six to seven kilograms of explosives. Parts of his suicide vest, ball bearings and his head and legs have been found.

• November 19: At least 20 people - including three Policemen - were killed and 50 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Judicial Complex on Khyber Road in Peshawar, the NWFP capital. This was the sixth suicide attack in 11 days in the provincial capital.

• November 16: Three persons were killed and more than 30 others sustained injuries in a suicide car bombing which targeted the Badaber Police Station on the Kohat Road near Peshawar. The powerful blast razed to the ground a mosque, a large portion of the Police Station and three nearby buildings. It also injured some horses in the nearby horse stand and damaged several vehicles in the vicinity. Eyewitnesses said Constable Umer Rahman of the Frontier Constabulary opened fire as he became suspicious about a fast-approaching vehicle near the Badaber Police Station around 7:40am. "When the brave constable opened fire, the explosives stuffed in the vehicle exploded. The soldier also suffered injuries but he is safe and sound," Frontier Constabulary Commandant Zafarullah Khan said. Those killed in the blast were identified as Dilshad from Badaber village, Abdul Mannan from Mohmand Agency and Sher Rahman belonging to the Kurram Agency. Officials of the bomb disposal squad estimated that around 250 kilograms of explosives had been stuffed in the vehicle. This was the fifth incident of its kind in and outside Peshawar during the last eight days.

• November 14: At least 12 persons, including a Policeman and a three-year-old child, were killed and another 35 injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at a Police checkpost in Peshawar, the provincial capital of NWFP, Police and hospital staff said.

• November 13: At least 13 people - 10 military personnel and three civilians - were killed and 60 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the regional headquarters of the ISI in Peshawar, the NWFP capital. An ISPR statement said the bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a military check-post on Artillery Road at 6:45am (PST), killing 10 military personnel and three civilians, and injuring 60. The NWFP Inspector General of Police, Malik Naveed, said the vehicle was loaded with around 200 kilograms of explosives. NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain told the media that nine ISI officials were killed, while three were missing. Hussain also said that surrounding walls and an entire block of the agency headquarters were completely destroyed, while six blocks had been partially damaged.

Ten persons, including nine security officials, were killed and 22 injured in a suicide attack at a Police Station in the Bannu town of Bannu District in the NWFP. A Police official said that a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the Bakkakhel Police Station on Miranshah Road - killing seven Security Force personnel, two Frontier Corps troops and a pedestrian. He also said that 22 people, including 19 Policemen, were also injured in the suicide attack. The station is close to the border with North Waziristan. The bomber reportedly struck 25 minutes after the suicide attack on the ISI building in provincial capital Peshawar.

• November 9: Three persons, including a Policeman, were killed and five others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber riding an auto-rickshaw blew himself up at a Police barricade on the Ring Road in the Latifabad area of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. An eyewitness, Attaullah, told reporters that Policemen deployed at a barricade near a canal signalled an auto-rickshaw to stop around 10:00 am (PST). "A man in his early 20s, having a trimmed beard and wearing brown clothes, came out of the three-wheeler and detonated explosives strapped around his vest," he recalled. Another eyewitness, Sher Afzal, said he saw two people going towards the barricade in a rickshaw a few moments before the blast. Investigators said five to six kilograms of explosives were used in the incident. This was the second suicide bombing in Peshawar during the last 24 hours.

• November 8: At least 18 people, including a local councillor heading an anti-Taliban Lashkar (militia), were killed and 44 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a cattle market at Adezai village, 25 kilometres south of the capital city of Peshawar. Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Muhammad Karim Khan said that that around eight-to-10 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

• October 16: At least 15 persons, including three policemen, were killed and 19 others sustained injuries after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the CIA’s Special Investigation Unit in Peshawar. The Bomb Disposal Squad Chief Shafqat Malik told that 60-70 kilograms of explosives had been used in the attack, adding that Police had recovered a leg of the attacker.

• October 15: 11 persons, including three Policemen, were killed and 22 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the building of the Saddar Police Station located in the military area of Kohat.

• October 12: At least 41 persons - including six soldiers - were killed and 45 others were injured in a suicide attack on a military convoy in the Alpuri area of Shangla District (which borders Swat District), NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain and a military official said. The bomber – believed to be 14 years old and on foot – targeted the convoy while it was passing through the busy Alpuri bazaar. The AP news agency, however, reported that the bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near the convoy. A military spokesman said that 12 shops and seven vehicles were destroyed when the young bomber detonated explosives. "Some vehicles loaded with ammunition were also part of the convoy... they caught fire after the explosion," said the spokesman.

• October 9: 49 persons, including a woman and seven children, were killed and 90 others were injured when a suicide attacker detonated his explosives-laden car at the crowded Soekarno Chowk in Khyber Bazaar in Peshawar. A Police official said that people were busy in routine activities when a suicide bomber detonated the explosives laden in his car. Many of those killed and injured were passengers of a mini-bus that was passing through the area at the time of the blast. Seven children, many of them schoolboys, and a woman, were among those killed. The blast destroyed around 30 vehicles and partially damaged over 60 shops in the nearby markets. Windowpanes of hundreds of shops and offices were also reportedly destroyed. Among those killed or injured were patients and their attendants going or coming out of the nearby Lady Reading Hospital, the biggest public sector hospital in the NWFP.

• September 28: At least four persons, including a prominent anti-Taliban cleric, were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a car at Bannu. "The attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into a vehicle carrying pro-government local leader Abdul Hakeem," said Police Official Iqbal Marwat. Witnesses said Hakeem was on his way to office when the bomber struck.

• September 21: Police officers foiled a plan to assassinate the NWFP Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak in Tatalai District, when they confronted four militants in a gun battle that ended with a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself up.

• September 18: 30 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide attack in Kohat District. At least 13 shops were also destroyed, and shockwaves were felt as far as a kilometre away, witnesses said. Reuters reported that the bomb was believed to have contained about 150 kilogrammes of explosives. Locals put the death toll at around 40. The blast took place in Kacha Pakka area, 17 kilometres from Kohat city. Shopkeepers said most of the victims were Shias and coalminers waiting for buses. "It appears the attack was carried out to target Shias," they said. The LeJ claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of one of their leaders. "We carried out the attack to avenge the killing of Muhammad Amin," Usman Haider, claiming to be a spokesman for the outfit, told BBC over telephone.

• September 12: Two Policemen were injured in a suicide blast near Doaba Police Station in the Hangu District. An eyewitness said that the suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into the main gate of the Police Station five minutes before evening prayers during the Ramadan season. They said the militant failed to enter the Police station and blew himself up at the gate, injuring two personnel.

• August 30: At least 16 Police recruits were killed and 11 others sustained injuries after a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body at the Mingora Police Station. The volunteers for the new community Police force were conducting drills in the yard adjacent to the station when the attacker detonated his explosives, local Government administrator Atifur Rehman said. Authorities were investigating reports the attacker - possibly in uniform - might have hidden among the dozens of recruits, he said. "Initial investigations suggest the attacker climbed the small boundary wall and blew himself up, but there is also a report the suicide bomber was already inside," he said.

• August 23: Three persons were killed and 15 others sustained injuries in a powerful suicide blast close to the house of the slain AI spokesman, Mobin Afridi, in the Momin Town area of Peshawar, the NWFP capital. The blast also destroyed four houses and damaged eight others in the street. "Three people, including two women, were killed and 15 others injured when the suicide bomber blew himself up in a street after he ran short of ammunition," said SSP Qazi Jamilur Rehman. The bomb disposal squad estimated around eight kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. A large number of ball bearings and nails were also used in the blast to increase its intensity.

• August 21: A suicide bomber blew himself up after he was besieged by the SF personnel in Kohat. Official sources said the Police were informed that a 15-year-old suicide bomber would attack a mosque or imambargah anytime in the city. The SF personnel spotted the bomber in a bazaar with two hand-grenades in his hand and a firearm on his shoulder, the sources said. Seeing the Police party, the bomber ran away and forced his entry into the house of Inayatullah Jan in BB Pakdaman Street and took his family members hostage. Later, the women and other members of the family, except one Safdar Hashmi, were allowed to go out of the house. Eyewitnesses said the only hostage, Safdar Hashmi, managed to escape from the house and the Police party headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdullah Khan fired tear-gas shells and bullets at the house. The bomber later blew himself up when he couldn’t escape. The house also suffered damage in the explosion. Later, Safdar Hashmi, while talking to the media, said the bomber was 15-year-old and hailed from Punjab.

• August 16: A soldier was killed and three others sustained injuries in a suicide attack near a SFs checkpoint in the Swat District. According to the ISPR, a suicide bomber was moving towards the Naway Killay check-post when the soldiers asked him to stop. However, the bomber entered a house near the check-post and blew him up, injuring four soldiers. One of the soldiers later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

• July 8: A suicide bomber died on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, when explosives hidden in a mango cart went off before he could reach the intended target – possibly the NWFP Assembly speaker, according to witnesses and Police. "The bomber is the only person who died," senior Police officer Ghulam Muhammad told reporters after the incident in Malkhandher on Nasir Bagh Road. Unconfirmed reports indicated that five people had been injured. Witnesses said that a teenager, aged around 16 years, was waiting near a bridge when his explosives went off. One eye-witness said the explosives had been hidden under mangoes to dodge the troops. Bomb disposal squad chief Tanveer said the explosives weighed around 20 kilograms and "pieces of a suicide jacket" had been found. Police believe the bomber’s original target was the NWFP Assembly Speaker Karamatullah Chagarmati, who was using the Nasir Bagh Road en route to a funeral.

• July 1: Police claimed to have foiled a sabotage attempt and defused three explosive devices planted in a car while one of the militants riding the vehicle blew himself up in provincial capital Peshawar. Suspected militants were reportedly riding an explosive-laden car and when signaled by the Police to stop on the Kohat road, they lobbed two hand-grenades on the Police that didn't explode. Senior Superintendent of Police Qazi Jamilur Rehman said the car with around five militants was coming from Darra Adamkhel and armed with automatic weapons they exchanged fire with the Police. "As the police encircled one of them near Mashokhel Mera, he blew himself up," he said. The others, however, managed to escape. In the car, he said, three types of explosives-manual, timer and remote-controlled devices had been planted which were defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.

• June 22: Two Policemen were killed and seven people, including three Policemen, sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the Thakot Police check-post in Battagram District, completely destroying the check-post. "An explosion occurred in a small truck when it reached the Dandai bridge in Shangla district (of Swat) ... it was a suicide attack," said Gul Wali Khan, the District Police chief in Shangla, told. The attack was the first-ever suicide attack in Battagram District.

• June 12: Five worshippers were killed and 105 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden van into a mosque during the Friday prayers in the Cantonment area of Nowshera. Sources said the congregation was in the second Rakat (part) when the bomber in the vehicle, carrying 125 kilograms of explosives, struck the wall of the mosque near the Army Supply Depot. Two soldiers were among the four persons killed on the spot while 105 persons, including 30 civilians, were injured in the explosion. Most of the wounded were reportedly Army personnel. One of those wounded succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. While the blast brought down the entire structure of the mosque, windowpanes and doors of nearby buildings were smashed and walls cracked, injuring several persons, including women and children. The Nowshera District Police Officer Abdullah Khan told the vehicle used in the attack had been made to look like an ambulance.

• June 11: A man was killed and 13 others, including nine Policemen, sustained injuries in a hand grenade-cum-suicide attack on a Police party in the Lateefabad area on Ring Road in Peshawar. Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told the media that a Police party was on a routine duty on Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Faqirabad Police station when unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the Policemen, injuring one of them. Even as reinforcements were being called for, a suicide bomber came near a Police pick-up and blew himself up. The blast destroyed two Police mobiles, a rickshaw and a motorcycle.

• June 9: A massive truck bomb explosion at the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar killed 17 persons and injured 60 others. The attackers entered the compound on two vehicles at about 10:30pm, firing at the security guards at the hotel gate with bullets from one and blowing up the other in the hotel parking. "It was a suicide attack," Capital City Police Officer Sefwat Ghayur told AFP. "There are two foreigners among the dead," NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said. Among those who were injured are the ruling Awami National Party's minister Zarshed Khan, Senator Nabi Bangash, UN officials, three foreigners and an airline's crew. 40 vehicles parked in the compound were destroyed and the building was seriously damaged. A Bomb Disposal Squad official told reporters at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

• June 5: A suicide bomber killed 49 worshippers, including 12 children, at a mosque in a remote village of the Dir Upper District. Dozens more were injured as a young man detonated explosives fastened to his body minutes before the Friday congregation in the Hayagay Sharqi village. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The village, located in the mountains, is situated approximately 20 kilometers east of Dir town, the District headquarters.

• May 28: Three Policemen were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack on a Police vehicle at the Sra Khawra security post on the Kohat road in the jurisdiction of Matani Police station on the outskirts of Peshawar. The vehicle was destroyed and the police post was partially damaged in the suicide bombing.

• May 28: A Policeman and two passers-by were killed and 13 people wounded when a suicide attacker exploded an auto-rickshaw near a Police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan.

• May 5: Seven people, including two children and a Frontier Corps soldier, were killed and 48 others sustained injuries an explosives-laden car rammed into a pick-up near a check-post on the Bara road near Peshawar. The Bara Qadeem check-post was manned by the Police and Frontier Constabulary. Eyewitnesses said the car on a suicide mission was following a Frontier Corps pick-up from Bara and hit it when it slowed down near the check-post. The pick-up was carrying students to a school in Peshawar. The Senior Superintendent of Police Mian Ghulam Mohammad said no one had accepted responsibility for the blast. According to bomb disposal personnel, the explosives weighed about 85 kilograms. The blast also reportedly caused a deep crater in the middle of the road and damaged dozens of houses and shops.

• May 4: A suicide car bomber killed four SF personnel and wounded eight persons in the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. Police sources said the attacker rammed his car into a vehicle carrying SFs.

• May 1: The ISPR spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said two Frontier Corps personnel were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a booby-trapped house in the Buner District.

• April 18: At least 27 SF personnel were killed and 55 others injured in a suicide attack on a security check post in the Doaba area of Hangu District. Locals told that the attack on the checkpoint, about 45 kilometres southwest of Hangu, took place at around 4:15pm (PST) when SF personnel were visiting the area for the inspection. Two Police vehicles were passing by the check post when the suicide bomber driving a double-cabin pickup rammed the vehicle into the structure, they said. The explosion destroyed the check post, adjacent building housing troops and Police, and eight SF’s vehicles.

• April 15: At least 18 persons, including nine Policemen, were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the Harichand Police Post in Charsadda District. The NWFP Inspector General of Police, Malik Naveed, said Police wanted to stop the suicide bomber’s speeding car and fired at it, but it had reached close to them by the time the explosives went off. The blast also left a crater about three metres wide, damaged windows in nearby buildings and severed power cables, plunging the area into darkness.

• April 2: A would-be suicide bomber shot himself dead before hitting his target i.e. the funeral prayers for slain Police official Fateh Rehman in the Haryan Kot area of Dargai sub-division. Five Police personnel, including Station House Officer Fateh Rehman, were killed in a rocket and rifle attack on a Police mobile van by militants near Jitkot village in Upper Dir District on April 1. Sources said the bomber abandoned a bag full of explosives and his suicide vest and hurled two hand-grenades at the people before fleeing. However, the hand-grenades did not explode and he shot himself on the spot with a pistol. The villagers found a national identity card with the body identifying him as Irshadul Haq, son of Niaz Muhammad, of Targhao area in Bajaur Agency.

• March 30: Seven persons, including five Army soldiers, were killed and nine others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a military convoy near a filling station on the Bannu-Miranshah Road. The dead also included an Assistant Engineer of Radio Pakistan Razmak station, Basharat Afridi, and a lady travelling in a passenger coach. However, military spokesman and ISPR Director-General Major General Athar Abbas said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device planted in a roadside car.

• March 26, 2009: 12 persons, including a woman, were killed and 22 others sustained injuries when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up outside a crowded restaurant in the Jandola bazaar of Tank District. A pro-government group of Bhittani tribesmen, led by Haji Turkistan, is believed to have been the target of the suicide attacker. Eyewitnesses told from Jandola - the gateway to South Waziristan - that a young boy blew himself up outside the crowded restaurant in the bazaar. The bazaar is located in front of heavily guarded British-era fort, currently inhabited by the Frontier Corps and the Army. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. "The TTP claims responsibility for the suicide attack in Jandola," spokesman Maulvi Omar said in a telephone call from an unknown place to reporters in Bajaur. He called the suicide attack a revenge for the clashes in 2008. "Turkistan Bitani's fighters killed 35 of our people last year, and we killed his people today in the suicide attack," Omar added.

• March 11, 2009: The NWFP Senior Minister and Awami National Party leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour survived an assassination attempt that left six persons, including two suspected suicide attackers, dead in Namak Mandi in the provincial capital Peshawar. Four persons, including a young girl, were wounded in the firing, grenade attack and suicide blast. "Bilour and others were coming back after opening a road project when a young man, followed by another, rushed towards him while loudly reciting Allaho Akbar. A security official pushed the attacker back after explosives around his vest did not go off despite his repeated attempts," said an eyewitness. A nearby shopkeeper said the attacker fell on the ground after which one of them lobbed a grenade at the crowd. Police, he added, also opened fire. A vendor, Tehmash, was killed while constable Himayatullah, a trader, Khalilur Rahman, and a six-year-old were injured in the incident. Even as the attackers managed to flee the Security Force personnel continued to chase them until the attackers forced their entry into the house of an auto-mechanic located around 500 meters from the earlier spot. Police besieged the house and "As the terrorists failed to find any way out, they triggered the explosives around the vest of one of them, killing the two attackers and three members of the family that owned the house," a Police official said.

• February 23, 2009: A Police guard was killed when he flung himself onto a suicide bomber to prevent him from entering a compound in Bannu. The attacker was trying to enter the compound, where judges and senior police officials live and work, when the guard intercepted him. "The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound. Then the police guard saw him, grabbed him and he exploded himself," local Police official Ghafar Ali told by telephone. Two other police guards were wounded in the attack.

• February 21, 2009: Two suicide bombers were killed when their explosives-laden car blew up before hitting its intended target in the Lakki town of Bannu District. The bombers intended to ram the vehicle into a Police post but it exploded a few metres short of its target, Police officer Muhammad Habibullah said. "We have found body parts of two bombers from the blown up vehicle," the officer told, adding, there were no Police casualties.

• February 20, 2009: 32 persons were killed and 145 others injured when a suicide bomber exploded himself in the funeral procession of a slain employee of the Tehsil Municipal Administration near the busy Shubra Square in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said the funeral procession of local Shia community leader Sher Zaman alias Shera, who was killed in firing by unidentified persons on February 19, was heading towards Kotly Imam Hussain for his Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) and burial when a suicide bomber ran into the mourners and blew himself up.

• February 9, 2009: At least 18 FC personnel were injured in a suicide attack on the Baran Pul check-post of the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) in the jurisdiction of Bakkakhel police station in Bannu District. Sources said a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden mini truck hit the building of the FRP check-post at Baran Pul, injuring 18 FC soldiers.

• February 5, 2009: A suicide attacker detonated an explosive-laden car near a Police station in the Mingora town of Swat District, injuring a dozen officers and destroying part of the building, said Dilawar Khan Bangash, the Police chief. Bangash said militants also fired three rockets before the attack and one damaged a nearby hotel.

• January 23, 2009: Two SF personnel were killed in a suicide attack near Mingora town in the Swat District of NWFP. A car laden with explosives blew up near the Fizagat check-post, killing two SF personnel and injuring 22 others. Troops had signaled the suspicious vehicle to stop and also fired on it, but it accelerated and hit the post.

• January 4, 2009: Ten persons, including four Policemen, were killed and 27 others injured in two bomb blasts near the Polytechnic College in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said an explosive device, planted by militants near the main gate of the Polytechnic College, went off at 7:07 pm, injuring four persons. Eyewitnesses said soon after the blast, Police personnel and people rushed to the spot. As a large number of Policemen and people gathered at the site, a 16-year-old suicide bomber forced his entry into the crowd and blew himself up, killing 10 persons, including four Policemen, and injuring 21 others.

• January 4, 2009: A suicide bomber was killed while two people sustained injuries near a check-post in Officers’ Colony in Bannu. The suicide bomber blew himself up in an attempt to target a check-post but could not succeed as the bomb exploded before he could reach his target.

2008