At least 13 people were killed and 30 injured in a suicide bombing in Pakistan today, an attack claimed by a Taliban faction to avenge the execution of an Islamist murderer who was hanged last week.
The bomber struck during morning rush hour as lawyers and witnesses arrived at court in the northwest town of Shabqadar, mingling with the crowd before detonating his explosives. Four women and two children, as well as two police officers, were among the dead.
Jamaat ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, said the bombing was revenge for the execution last week of Mumtaz Qadri, one of Pakistan’s most notorious death-row inmates. The former policeman was hanged for the assassination in 2011 of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab, who had enraged Islamists by calling for reform of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws, which mandate death for insulting the Prophet.
Qadri was serving as Mr Taseer’s bodyguard when he turned his gun on the governor; a murder that divided the nation. Pakistan’s liberal elite were horrified, but Qadri was hailed as a hero by conservatives and militant groups.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for Jamaat ul-Ahrar, said that the courthouse in Shabqadar was targeted to draw attention to Pakistan’s “un-Islamic” laws. “The Pakistani courts give decisions against the laws revealed by Allah, and convict and hang innocent people,” he added.
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Violent reprisals have been expected since Qadri was hanged, with mass protests held in several cities. His funeral, in Rawalpindi, brought some 100,000 people onto the streets and prompted further demonstrations across the country.
Shabqadar, 90 miles northwest of Islamabad, lies near the semi-autonomous tribal region of Mohmand. Bordering Afghanistan, the area has long been a base for the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
Pakistan’s military launched an offensive in the tribal regions last year, killing hundreds of militants and arresting thousands more. The crackdown brought relative stability to the country but there have been several terrorist attacks in recent weeks, including a Taliban raid on a university in the town of Charsadda, 20 miles from Shabqadar, that left 22 students and professors dead in January.
Qadri’s execution was widely seen as a watershed in the government’s fight against terrorism, with the authorities upholding the law despite the killer’s massive popularity. Reform of the blasphemy laws remains taboo, however, with successive governments sidestepping the controversial issue.
Blasphemy is such a serious allegation in Pakistan that parents have been known to murder their children if they are accused of it. Even unproven allegations can prompt mob violence and lynchings, and human rights groups claim the laws are frequently abused by those looking to settle political, tribal and family scores, or to persecute religious or ethnic minorities.