On 20 October 2009, at least six people, including three women, were killed, and as many as 29 people injured, 25 of them women, in twin suicide attacks at International Islamic University in the Pakistani capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

.Shakeel Anjum
"Terror visits Islamabad again"
''The News'', 21 October 2009 Police said that the blasts at the university were caused by

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

."Blasts at Islamabad’s Islamic university"
''Dawn'', 20 October 2009 This was the first-ever attack on students in the country since the start of 21st century

terrorism in Pakistan Terrorism in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The current wave of terrorism is believed to have started in 2000 and peaked during 2009. Since then, it has drastically decli ...

in 2001.

Background

The university is located in

's sector H-10. Eyewitnesses told

Dawn News Dawn News is one of Pakistan's 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occu ...

that there were between 3–4,000 students present in the campus at the time of the blast. The blasts took place at both the boys and girls campuses of the university. The attack came as the

Pakistani Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

continued its offensive against militants in

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and t ...

, in the country's north-west. A string of attacks rocked

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, and Islamabad dating back to 5 October 2009, killing more than 250 people. The bombings made October one of the bloodiest months since the beginning of the terrorist attacks.

Attacks

The first attack occurred adjacent to the cafeteria near the girls'

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

, while the second attack occurred in the Sharia and Law Department a few minutes later. Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Amer Ali Ahmad told news reporters that the deceased were identified as Sidra Khalid (student), Hina (student), Pervaiz Masih (sanitary worker), Shaukat Bhatti (security guard), Amna (worker) and Khalil-ur-Rehman (student). Students said Masih, prevented the bomber from entering the cafeteria of the girls school and saved many lives. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.Munawer Azeem & Syed Irfan Raza
"Desperadoes attack Islamic university in capital: Three girls among six killed"
''Dawn'', 21 October 2009

Domestic reactions

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Rehman Malik Abdul Rehman Malik NI ( Punjabi, Urdu: رحمان ملک; born 12 December 1951 – 23 February 2022) was a Pakistani politician and a Federal Investigation Agency officer, having served as the Interior Minister from being appointed on 25 Marc ...

said, "These people have attacked Islamic University which proves their NO affiliation with Islam. They are neither sincere with Islam nor Pakistan's friends."

after a meeting on the security of schools and universities said, 'We have solid evidence that not only in Balochistan but India is involved in almost every terrorist activity in Pakistan.'

Aftermath

The attacks prompted authorities to close schools and colleges throughout the country. The Sindh Education Department announced the closure of all government and private schools in the province until 25 October (Sunday), adding that universities would remain closed on 21 October (Wednesday) only. The

NWFP NWFP may refer to: *North-West Frontier Province, a province of British India, and later, Pakistan *Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP o ...

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

governments also announced the closure of all education institutions until Sunday. Educational institutions in the federal capital had already been shut down until 25 October. In

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, it was reported on a private TV channel that all government and private education institutions would remain closed until further orders.

References

External links