Suicide bomber hits Mardan Excise and Taxation office

One killed, 16 injured in sabotage act

MARDAN: A man was killed while 16 others sustained injuries in firing followed by a suicide bombing at the Excise and Taxation office on the Mall Road in the Cantonment area here on Tuesday, police and local sources said.

The sources said that the suicide bomber came from the Mall Road side and opened fire when he was near the regional office of the Excise and Taxation department.“The security guards tried to stop him from entering the building, but the bomber managed to get into it,” the sources added. An exchange of fire took place between the suicide bomber and the security guards for a few moments before the deafening blast, the sources said.

They added that the suicide attacker blew himself up near the computer section of the office. However, majority of the staff members and people visiting the office for different purposes had run cover before the suicide bombing after having heard the firing.

A large numbers of applicants visit the Excise and Taxation office daily. The number of visitors was thin when the attack took place. “The attacker first opened indiscriminate fire on the main gate to target the security guards and there was a huge explosion as he entered the building,” an eyewitness said.

Hamid Sultan, who runs a photostat shop near the Excise and Taxation office, told the media that the exchange of fire between the suicide bomber and security guards continued for some time. However, he said the firing stopped after a moment and then it was followed by the blast.

“When I entered the office after the blast I saw the injured crying for help,” Hamid Sultan recalled.The security forces personnel and rescue teams rushed to the site of the attack and took the injured to the two public hospitals in the city, the District Headquarters Hospital and the Mardan Medical Complex.

One of the injured persons identified as Nek Zaman later succumbed to his injuries.The injured included both staffers of the Excise and Taxation office and civilians who had come there to attend to their chores.

The other injured included Inspector Malik Aman, Inspector Fakar-e-Alam, computer operators Arab Sultan, Jehangir and Ahmad, Assistant Sub-Inspector Siyar Khan, local journalist Yousaf Khan, Mohammad Nisar, Abdul Rasheed, Mohammad Yaseen, Mohammad Farooq, Khairul Bashar, Shahjahan, Nawabzada Ijaz, Khan Bahadur and Mohammad Waseem.

Three of the injured were said to be in critical condition.The Excise and Taxation office is located near the Mall Road where several other important buildings, including banks and the General Post Office, local courts and City Police Station are located. It is a thickly populated area in Mardan city. The police said that eight to10 kilograms of explosives was used in the blast.

Talking to reporters, District Police Officer Mardan, Faisal Shehzad said the firing before the blast caused chaos in the office. He added that the security guards at the office were alert. Dr Mohammad Haris Habib, District Emergency Officer of the Rescue 1122 Mardan, told reporters that 15 of the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital and the Mardan Medical Complex.

He said four of the injured were in critical condition.Earlier in December 2015, an office of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) located at Dwasaro Chowk in the limits of City Police Station in Mardan was targeted by a suicide bomber. As many as 26 people were killed and 54 injured in that attack.