Shah Hassan Khel is a village to the south of
Lakki Marwat
Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ps, ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lakki Marwat is also the 20th mos ...
, in the
Lakki Marwat District, on the Lakki Marwat Road between
Lakki Marwat
Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ps, ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lakki Marwat is also the 20th mos ...
and
Shahbaz Azmat Khel
Shahbaz Azmat Khel is a town and union council in Bannu District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four prov ...
. In 2011, it had some 4,000 inhabitants in about 500 households.
The village is located between two streams which lead down from a southern tributary of the
Tochi River.
The area to the south is mountainous, known as the Sheikh Badin Range.
Struggling from insecurity since around 2007, the
2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing
The 2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing occurred on 1 January 2010, in the village of Shah Hassan Khel, Lakki Marwat District, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. At least 105 people died and over 100 were injured, many of them critica ...
took place here killing at least 105 people and wounding more than 100 others.
History
Historically, Shah Hassan Khel was a village unit of the tehsil of
Marwat.
Administratively it bordered the village units of
Ahmed Khel
Ahmed Khel is a town and union council in Lakki Marwat District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-mo ...
to the north,
Abdul Khel
Abdul Khel is a town and union council in the Lakki Marwat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List o ...
to the southwest, and the southwestern part of
Chowki Jand to the south and southeast.
In 1992, Marwat tehsil became a part of
Lakki Marwat District. The neighbouring villages of Ahmed Khel and Abdul Khel constitute official
union councils of the district today.
The first mentions of trouble with the Taliban in the region of Shah Hassan Khel date from early 2007, with extremists taking six hostages at a marriage party and beating up a group of singers. After the 2007
Siege of Lal Masjid, Taliban militants took first control of the Shah Hassan Khel mosque, and soon of the whole village. When Pakistan security forces tried to expunge the militants from the village in the summer of 2009, the village became a ghost town for three months, with all villagers fleeing to other villages close by. After the operation was successfully ended and 24 militants were captured by the Pakistani forces, the villagers returned and organised a ''lashkar'', a village militia to defend themselves and prevent the return of the Taliban. This worked, despite a volunteer of the militia being killed in a skirmish.
[
]
2010 terrorist attack
On 1 January 2010 a Mitsubishi Pajero suicide bomb car with some 600 pounds of explosives drove into a village square where a crowd was watching a volleyball game played by some members of the ''lashkar'', while most of the elders of the village and the lashkar were meeting in a nearby mosque. The blast caused at least 97 deaths (other sources claim 105 deaths), with a further 40 wounded. An unknown organisation within the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was responsible for the attack, which caused the most fatalities of any TTP attack. The driver of the bomb car was the son of a member of the Shah Hassan Khel ''lakshar''.[
In response to the attack, the villages expanded the armed militia to defend the town and to hunt down those responsible for the attack. A boys' school which had also been demolished during the attack was rebuilt and reopened in 2012.]
Geography
Shah Hassan Khel is located in northern central Pakistan in Lakki Marwat District 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, ...
. By road it is located south of the district town of Lakki Marwat
Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ps, ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lakki Marwat is also the 20th mos ...
, southeast of Bannu
Bannu ( ps, بنو, translit=banū ; ur, , translit=bannū̃, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe ...
, and south 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 ...
. The main road connecting the village, Lakki Marwat Road, stems from the Indus Highway
The Indus Highway ( ur, ), also known as National Highway 55 (N-55) ( ur, ), is a 1264 km long two to four-lane national highway that runs along the Indus River in Pakistan connecting the port city of Karachi with the northwestern city ...
, the N55 road. Like the N55, this road connects Shahbaz Khel
Shahbaz Khel is a village of Lakki Marwat District, in the southern part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is t ...
in the southwest and Sarai Naurung to the northwest, but bypasses the route, passing through Shah Hassan Khel and the district town of Lakki Marwat en route.
The village is located between two streams which lead down from a southern tributary of the Tochi River. The Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
flows some way to the east of the village. The area to the south is mountainous, known as the Sheikh Budin Range.
References
{{Lakki-Marwat-Union-Councils
Populated places in Lakki Marwat District
Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2010
Suicide car and truck bombings in Pakistan