The April 2010 Kohat bombings were a pair of bombings that struck a center for

displaced people Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

on the outskirts of the town of

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

, in

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 ...

, on April 17, 2010. At least 41 people were killed, while another 64 more were injured. The next day another suicide bombing at a police station killed 7 more and injured nearly two dozen.

Bombings

April 17

The bombings happened at the Kacha Pukha camp, set up for

internally displaced persons An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. ...

that had fled the Orakzai tribal area in north-west Pakistan near the

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

border. The victims were among 300 people queued to register for aid at the camp. The suicide bombers were reported to be wearing

burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...

s, and having set off their bombs within minutes of each other. Most of the victims were from Baramad Khel and Mani Khel tribes who had fled fighting in

Orakzai Agency Orakzai District ( ps, اورکزو ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakh ...

April 18

The next day another suicide bomber attacked a police station in response to military operations in Kohat killing 7 and wounding 21. The police chief of Kohat, Dilawar Khan Bangash, said: "It was a suicide attack. The target was a police station. The bomber exploded his vehicle on the back side of the police station. These incidents are a reaction to the military operation in the tribal areas."

Responsibility

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

militant organisation,

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia ...

has claimed responsibility.

Response

In the aftermath of the bombings, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

temporarily suspended operations assisting refugees in the Kohat region. There are more than 200,000 internally displaced persons in the area of the incident. Pakistan's Defence Minister,

Ahmad Mukhtar Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar ( ur, احمد مختار) (22 June 1946 – 25 November 2020) was a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the Defence Minister of Pakistan in the PM Yousaf Raza Gillani-led cabinet. He also owned Servis ...

, called the attacks "highly barbaric and cowardly."

References