Female suicide bomber stops UN aid to Pakistan flood victims
Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The offices of the World Food Programme (WFP), which gave food to 41 thousand people affected by flooding, will be closed for a week because of the attack that killed 46 people waiting rations on Christmas Day. There are 96 wounded. The terrorist action took place in Khar, Bajaur tribal region in the north-west of the country on the border with Afghanistan.
Mustaqeem Khan, a government representative in the region, confirmed that on the morning of December 25 at 8.30 am, a woman wrapped in a burqa blew herself up after trying to mingle with the crowd that was waiting in line outside the WFP food office. From the remains of the woman, the police concluded that she was between 18 and 22 years. According to Pakistani media this is the first action performed by a woman suicide bomber.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has condemned the "horrible terrorist act which targeted innocent people." Even Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack and vowed that the fight against militants will continue until their complete elimination. "
Last year, the Pakistani army launched an offensive against the Taliban in the border area with Afghanistan. The radical Islamists have responded with a series of guerrilla attacks against the army and minorities, even as the country tries to cope with the crisis which followed massive flooding that left 17 million people homeless and without food.
The Taliban in Pakistan, claiming the attack, said they have ordered it because the locals - the Salarzai tribes - support the military.
U.S. president Barack Obama has condemned the killing. "Killing innocent civilians outside a WFP distribution point - he said - is an affront to the Pakistani people and all humanity."
The distribution of aid will resume within a week, after checking and improved security in the distribution.
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22/09/2016 08:53
