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An episode of terrorist violence shook Hangu city yesterday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a hospital construction site in the Shia-inhabited neighborhood of Pas Kalay, Friday afternoon (December 10, 2010). The resulting explosion killed some at least 15 people and injuring more than 15 others.
With about 250 kg of explosives used, as revealed by media channels, first-hand accounts tell that the blast was so powerful as to bring down the roofs of several houses in the neighborhood and immediate surrounding while window panes were shattered in many houses in about half a kilometer radius of the blast.
The dead and injured of the Shia community were rushed to the main hospital in Hangu. The blast has been made at a time when the sensitive Ashora occasion (10th of Moharram observed in mourning by Shia sect members each year) is just days ahead. This is a time when sectarian clashes erupt often in Hangu and sometimes in nearby areas where members of Shia and Sunni sects live in proximity.
So far no one has claimed the responsibility for the blast. Political leadership, including the head of the state, has strongly condemned the base act of terrorism. Trade union of Hangu, meanwhile, has announced that the main market will be closed for a few days to mourn the loss of lives and to condemn the attack. Thus, the general Sunni population has expressed its condemnation of the attack and it is hoped that both sides will work together to fail the vicious plans of any evil element that is trying to spark seatrain violence in this part of the world.
