Incident Summary:
04/11/2006: A suicide bomber climbed onto the stage at a religious ceremony organized by Sunni Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat commemorating the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad's birth in the Nishtar Park area of Karachi, Pakistan and detonated, killing 57 people and injured up to 125 others. Authorities later indentified the head of the suicide bomber at the scene. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Overview
GTD ID:
200604110005
When:
2006-04-11
Country:
Pakistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Sindh
City:
Karachi
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Government of Pakistan |
Specific Description |
Religious ceremony in Nishtar Park area for Muhammad's birth |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Religious Freedom in Pakistan |
Specific Description |
Religious ceremony in Nishtar Park area for Muhammad's birth |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Weapon Details |
The bomber used about 11 pounds of explosives obtained locally according to Niaz Siddiqui, chief of police in Karachi. Siddiq's explosive jacket had 7/8 kg explosive and 3,000 ball bearing. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
--The event at Nishtar Park was the biggest such celebration in Pakistan, and about 50,000 people had gathered for the ceremony, including several prominent religious figures who were seated on a wooden stage directly at the center of the explosion. Prominent religious personalities, including Tehrik Awam Ahli-Sunnat chief Haji Mohammad Hanif Billo, Itikhar Bhatti, Abbas Qadri, Akram Qadri and Hafiz Mohammd Taqi, died in the blast. Investigators were looking into the fact that there might have been two suicide bombers or if the bomb was remote control, and later decided it was a suicide attack. --Soon after Tuesday's bombing, violence erupted in nearby southern areas of Karachi, where support runs high for Tehrik, Karachi's largest Sunni Muslim religious group, which had grieved that not enough security had been provided to their leaders and whose head died in this incident, as groups of youths burned at least three gas stations, buses, a fire truck, police van and ambulance. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal [MMA] chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed blamed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which had killed Sunni Tehrik leaders in the past. Suspicions as to who was behind the attack varied greatly, and the attack gained attention and comment around the world. --A three day mourning period afterwards was declared, which affected daily business. -- On 06/15/07, the Sindh Home Department identified Lashkar-e Jhangvi as the network behind the attack and Mohammad Siddiq as the bomber by matching the DNA taken from his head with that of his brother. Of the six remaining suspects involved, Mohammad Amin and Sultan were already in custody for the Allama Hasan Turabi murder case, and Mufti Zakir and Rehmatullah were arrested on June 15. The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) issued non-bailable warrants of absconding accused against the other three on July 26. On 07/13/07, the case went to trial at the ATC under charges of sections of PPC, Explosive Substance Act, and the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. On Aug. 28, the case was adjourned for Sept. 8. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
7 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
3 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
57 Fatalities / 125 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
57 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
125 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
“Pakistan suicide bombing kills 57,” Agence France Presse -- English, April 11, 2006. |
ZARAR KHAN, “Death toll from suicide bombing in Karachi rises to 57, more than 100 injured,” Associated Press Worldstream, April 11, 2006. |
“Pakistan: Authorities Claim Nishtar Park Suicide Bomber Identified,” Karachi Dawn (Internet Version-WWW) in English, June 16, 2007. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties