January 2009 Dera Ismail Khan bombings involved two incidents in

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...

. The first occurred on 4 January in front of Polytechnic College, killing ten people, including four policemen and two journalists, and injuring 28. The other occurred when a bomb planted on motorcycle exploded on 26 January near town hall, killing 6 people and injuring 24.

Attacks

On 4 January at around 18:55, a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

was thrown in front of Polytechnic College, where

Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's borders with Afghanist ...

had established a checkpoint to maintain security during

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

. After the grenade's explosion, police and forensics officers arrived at and began examining the site. Two journalists were also on the site when a suicide bomber between 15 and 18 years of age, blew himself up, detonating 10 to 15 kilograms of

material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

. Ten people, including four policemen and two journalists, were killed while 28 were injured out whom, most were police officers. The injured were brought to District Headquarter Hospital. Some people reported hearing shots fired on the Edhi ambulance when it was taking journalists to the hospital. The two journalists who lost their lives were Muhammad Imran from Daily Eitedal and Tahir Awan Daily Apna Akhbar. After the attack, patrolling was enhanced in the city. The explosion also led to disruption in electric service. On 26 January, a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near Central Jail outside Town Hall. Local police officer, Abdur Rasheed said, "The bomb went off minutes after a provincial lawmaker, Khalifa Abdul Qayyum, had passed by the area. It is not clear whether Qayyum was the target, but our investigation teams have rushed to the site of the blast to collect evidence."

Reactions

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.Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...

condemned attack, calling it cowardly act of terrorism. Zardari and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Yousuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

have asked for timely investigation of the blast and directed the hospital authorities to provide the best possible treatment to the victims.

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( ur, وزیر اعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government ...

Ameer Haider Khan Hoti Ameer Haider Khan Hoti ( ur, ; ps, امير حېدر خان هوتي) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who was the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2008 to 2013. During his government, the province was renamed from "North-West Frontie ...

and

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

of Jamat-e-Islami

Siraj ul Haq Siraj ul Haq ( ur, سراج الحق; born 5 September 1962) is a Pakistani politician who was elected as the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious political party in Pakistan which seeks to establish an Islamic legal system. He also served as ...

have also condemned attack.

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 ce ...

Owais Ahmed Ghani Owais Ahmed Ghani (Urdu: ), a mechanical engineer by profession, is the former governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, who previously governed southwestern province of Balochistan for four and a half years. He became active in ...

said, "elements behind this inhuman and un-Islamic act would be brought to justice".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dera Ismail Khan bombing 2009 murders in Pakistan Explosions in 2009 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan January 2009 crimes January 2009 events in Pakistan Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2009 Terrorist incidents in Dera Ismail Khan