Militants say Peshawar attack was to avenge Qadri

Over a dozen people were killed and twice that many injured in a suicide attack in Peshawar. Police said the bomber had intended to enter the court in the north western town of Shabqadar, near the Mohmand ethnic Pashtun region, and set off his explosives when guards challenged him. 

“The suicide bomber was trying to enter the judicial complex and he blew himself up when the police stopped him,” said police official Saeed Wazir. Television news footage showed extensive damage including the charred remains of at least two vehicles. 

Officials also said two police personnel, as well as four women and two children were among those killed. The Pakistani Taliban’s Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction claimed responsibility for the attack in the town, about 150 km north west of the capital, Islamabad.

Group spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in an emailed statement the bombing “was especially done as vengeance for the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri”. 

Qadri, a bodyguard-turned-assassin, was executed last week for killing Salman Taseer, the then governor of Punjab province, after he had called for reform of blasphemy laws that mandate death for insulting Islam or its prophet. Human rights groups say the laws can be abused by people trying to settle scores.