At Least 50 Killed in Pakistan’s Weekend of Bombings

Saturday Blast Killed 41 Refugees From Orakzai Offensive

With Pakistan still reeling from last weekend’s air strike, in which military jets killed at least 71 civilians in Pakistan’s tribal area, the nation saw another deadly flurry of bombings, this time by the militants, which left upwards of 50 civilians killed and an unknown number of others wounded.

The bulk of the casualties came on Saturday, when a pair a burqa-clad suicide bombers struck a refugee camp in Kohat, killing at least 41 people lined up at a registration table. The bulk of the casualties were people fleeing the military’s offensive in Orakzai Agency.

The bombing led the United Nations to announce that it was suspending its aid operations in Kohat until proper security could be guaranteed, a guarantee that can scarcely be said to exist anywhere in the nation, and a blow to the 200,000+ civilians displaced in and around Kohat.

Today, a second attack hit Kohat, when a vehicle packed with explosives slammed into a tractor near a police station. Several police were among the dozens injured, but again it appears all the slain were just civilian bystanders.

A Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) member confirmed today’s attack and extended their “regret” for the civilian deaths, insisting the police were the real target. The refrain will likely be all-too-familiar for the civilians of the area, who are constantly hearing the exact same claim from the Pakistani Army.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.