Motorbike suicide bomber kills at least 21 at Pakistan government office

A suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a government office in Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 70, officials said. A Pakistani Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the attack on a branch of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), which issues government ID cards, in the north-western city of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Eyewitness Nasir Khan, a 29-year-old labourer who received a shrapnel injury to his right leg, was waiting in the identity card queue when he heard someone shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest). When the dust settled, he said, it was a scene of carnage.

A suicide bomber riding an explosives-laden motorcycle hit the Nadra office in Mardan where a large number of people were standing in queues.

Police officer Naeem Khan

Levels of extremist-linked violence have dropped dramatically this year, with 2015 on course for the fewest deaths since 2007 – the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed. A Nadra employee, Mohammad Tariq, was inside when he heard the huge blast outside the office premises. "We are still inside the office, and the police and rescue workers are busy in their work,“ he said. Jamaat ur Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban that is fighting to overthrow the government and establish hard-line Islamist rule, claimed responsibility.

When the dust settled and I stood up, it looked as though someone had butchered the people in the line, there was only blood and human flesh in the row where people were previously standing.

Eyewitness Nasir Khan

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