Islamabad suicide bomber ‘looked like an Afghan’ with long hair

Islamabad: The suicide bomber who detonated explosives during a “surprise” check in Islamabad, “looked like an Afghan” with long hair and was sitting in the back seat of a cab, according to the FIR registered in connection to the attack.

The FIR registered at the Counter Terrorism Department (CDT) police station in Islamabad was based on a statement given by Constable Muhammad Hanif of the Eagle Squad, who was deployed on the road on Friday for surprise snap checking to prevent rising incidents of snatching, Samaa News reported.

Hanif said that the squad included Head Constable Adeel Hussain and Head Constable Muhammad Yousaf and Constable Bilal Ahmed and ASI Raza Hasan and his driver in a police van.

The police included sections relating to murder, attempted murder and facilitation of murder along with anti-terrorism sections in the FIR.

Constable Hanif in the FIR stated that they had set up a surprise check post on the heavily frequented service road when they hailed a yellow cab.

The yellow cabs are fairly common in the federal capital.

Hanif said that he was holding a rifle and was stationed a little distance from the road providing security to the other officers, Samaa News reported.

He said that when the cab approached, Hassan motioned it to stop and approached the vehicle to ask for the identification documents of the car’s driver and that of the car.

As he was checking the documents, he saw a long-haired passenger sitting in the back seat who looked like an Afghan national.

Hassan called out to Head Constable Yousaf and Constable Ahmed to search the passenger. As the two officials moved to check the
passenger he detonated the explosives, Samaa News reported.

The blast, Hanif said, was so severe that it severely damaged the nearby houses and parked cars.

The blast also severely injured Head Constable Hassan while it killed the occupants of the vehicle.