The 2008 Wah bombing was a double

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

on the

Pakistan Ordnance Factories , type = State-owned company , industry = Firearms, Defense, Machinery , fate = , successor = , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Wah Cantonment, Punjab , hq_location_country = Pakistan , area_served = worldwi ...

(POF) in Wah,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, on 21 August 2008. The attack, which killed more than 100 and wounded over 200 is the deadliest on a military site in Pakistan's history. Both bombers detonated themselves at the factory's gates while workers were changing shifts.

Background

The

(POF) in Wah,

, is the center of the country's defence industry. Nearly 25,000 workers are employed there to produce explosives, weapons and other conventional arms and ammunition. Since July 2007, the northwest region of Pakistan, has been the site of a wave of militant violence, in which hundreds of militants and Pakistani security force members have been killed. Violence in the region had subsided after the new coalition government, which came to power after the February 2008 general election, had begun talks with tribal leader

Baitullah Mehsud Baitullah Mehsud (Pashto/ ur, ; – 5 August 2009) was one of founder and a leading member of TTP in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups ...

. However, violence resumed when Mehsud suspended talks in June. Following an impeachment movement launched by major opposition parties, the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

resigned on 18 August 2008, ending his nine years as head of the country.

Responsibility

Maulvi Omar Maulvi Said Muhammad, better known as Maulvi Omar or Maulvi Umar, is a senior Taliban commander who was captured by the Pakistani security forces in August 2009. Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a close associate of Ba ...

, a spokesman for the Pakistani

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, said his group the

Tehrik-e-Taliban The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

had carried out the attacks, which he said were in response to

military operations A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations may ...

against militants in the

Bajaur Bajaur District ( ps, باجوړ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then during restructuring that merged ...

region which began on 6 August 2008 and has cost the lives of perhaps hundreds of civilians and forced some 300,000 people to flee from their homes. He warned that if the Pakistani government continues operations there, "we will continue such attacks". He further stated that the "Wah factory is a killer factory where arms are being produced to kill our women and children." A third bomber, Hamidullah did not carry out his attack and was subsequently arrested.

Government response

In a message, Dr

Fahmida Mirza Fahmida Mirza ( ur, ; born 20 December 1956) is a Pakistani politician who was Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination, in office from 20 August 2018 until 10 April 2022. She served as the 18th and only women Speaker of the National ...

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, and Faisal Karim Kundi, Deputy Speaker, said it was a barbaric act of terrorism, which reflected inhumane and callous nature of the perpetrators. They said that a few misguided people were trying to disrupt peace in the country and derail the peaceful democratic process but they will not succeed in their nefarious designs. They said the criminals behind attacks were playing with the lives of innocent people without realising that they cannot save themselves from the wrath of

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

.Fahmida, Kundi condemn Wah bomb blasts
/ref> The

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

met to officially condemn the terrorist attacks.

External links

Complete list of suicide bombings in pakistan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wah bombing, 2008 2008 murders in Pakistan 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2008 Suicide bombings in Pakistan Mass murder in 2008 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attacks Crime in Punjab, Pakistan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2008 August 2008 events in Pakistan 2008 in Pakistan

Background

Responsibility

Government response

See also

External links

References