On 8 November 2006, a suicide bombing took place at Punjab Regiment Center in

Dargai Dargai ( ps, درگئی; ur, ) is one of the tehsils of Malakand District (the other being Batkhela) in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It located on the main highway from Peshawar to Swat, Dir and Chitral. The town of ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

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 ...

that targeted Pak army. The attack left 42 soldiers dead while 20 others were wounded. Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility of the attack.

Background

On 30 October 2006, missiles were launched on a madrassa in Chenagai village of

Bajour Agency 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 merge ...

at around 05:00 am in which 82 people were killed. The motive of the airstrike was to kill Osama bin laden. The airstrike was carried out by

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and Pak army jointly.

Bombing

At around 08:40 ( UTC + 05:00), when 130 recruits of Punjab Regiment were preparing for parade, a short bearded suicide bomber wearing cloak shouted "Allah hu Akbar" (God is Great) and blew himself up killing 38 and wounding 22 people at the spot, out of whom, 2 died later rosing the death toll to 40. Another suicide bomber failed to explode and was hunted as he tried to escape.

Aftermath

Security forces reached the site and cordoned off the area. Experts from KPK were summoned to

for investigation.

Attribution and Responsibility

Initially the security forces blamed the banned militant organization,

Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, ur, تحریک نفاذ شریعت محمدی, en, Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law) is a Salafi Islamic extremist militant group in Pakistan whose objective is to enforce Sharia law in t ...

for the attack. Later on, an unidentified caller told a local journalist that

Pakistani 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 attack to avenge the attack on a seminary in Bajaur. The caller was referring to the air strike carried out by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on 30 October on the Bajaur seminary killing 82 people. The caller said the suicide bombing had been carried out by a group led by a hitherto unknown figure Abu Kalim Muhammad Ansari and claimed that it had another 274 volunteers ready to sacrifice their lives.

Reactions

Interior Minister of Pakistan Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao condemned the attack saying, "I very strongly condemn the reprehensible and cowardly act of terrorism against the innocent recruits undergoing training at the Punjab Regimental Training Centre in Dargai". Amir Muqam, in a statement, expressed deep sorrow. "Terrorists are neither friends of Islam nor well-wishers of Pakistan," he maintained. CM KPK

Akram Khan Durrani Akram Khan Durrani ( ur, اکرم خان درانی, ps, اکرم خان دراني; born 2 March 1960) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in office since 2 Oc ...

said "it is an act of naked aggression which has shaken the conscience of the humanity".

Qazi Hussain Ahmed Qazi Hussain Ahmad ( ur, قاضی حسین احمد ; born 12 January 1938 – 5 January 2013) was an Islamic scholar, democracy activist, and former Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami, the socially conservative Islamist political party in Pakistan. H ...

of the

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , "United Council of Action") is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, religious, and far-right parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed suc ...

said he was saddened by the deaths, but criticised the government for fomenting the bloodshed. "The government is to be blamed for today’s attack. If you kill innocent students and teachers by attacking their school, you should be ready to face such things," he said. President of

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; ur, , ps, اولسي ملي ګوند; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its curren ...

Asfandyar Wali Khan Asfandyar Wali Khan (Urdu and Pashto: اسفندیار ولی خان) (born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). His father, Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first presi ...

also expressed deep shock and condoled with the bereaved families. Maulana Samiul Haq expressed his profound grief and shock.

Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the appointed head of state of the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province), Pakistan. Although the governor is the head of the province on paper, it is largely a c ...

Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai strongly condemned the suicide attack, describing it a "heinous act of cowardice". MNA Haroon-ur-Rashid said the people of Bajaur lodged a peaceful protest on every occasion against the killing of innocent students of the seminary. The attack caused

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and his wife, Camilla to cancel a planned trip to Peshawar. US government officials condemned the attack and praised

Pakistan's role in the War on Terror Pakistan's role in the War on Terror is a widely discussed topic among policy-makers of various countries, political analysts and international delegates around the world. Pakistan has simultaneously received allegations of harbouring and aid ...

References