Blast in Mardan

Yet another bomb exploded yesterday in an otherwise watertight secured cantonment area of Mardan. Shaheen Backery adjacent to the boundary wall of the Punjab Regiment Army Recruitement and Training Center was the unfortunate location this time around. 13 persons including security guards, customers and workers of the backery were reported to be killed in the blast along with several inujured.
It is perhapes the fourth or fifth bomb blast of late in or around the same area of the city wihch ironically is heavily guarded by the armed personnel of Pakistan Army most of the time. The explosion has been termed as ‘a suicide blast’ by the millitary authorities but which the citizens aren’t sure about.
I wasn’t away from the site of the blast as I was rambling with a friend when we were jolted by the thunderous explosion. I could see the fear and uncertainity over the faces of the innocent citizens who couldn’t believe that their erstwhile peaceful city would fall prey to a handful of miscreants and more importantly to the evil conspiracies of their very own establishment.
According to a general consensus, it might be engineered by the establishment courtesy the fact that Mardan cantonment authorities were about to lose a case in the Supreme Court regarding the cutting off of a link road which actually passes through two entities of the contonment, connecting two parts of the city. Incidents of simillar nature happened on the last two occasions whenever the road was about to be opened following the verdicts of the city and Peshawar High Courts in favor of people of the locality. The road was permanently blocked by the army citing security reasons following a suicid blast last year in Dargai where a suicide bomber entered into the Army Cantonment and claimed the lives of dozens of young recruites. The stoppage proved hazardous for the commuters who would reach the city center taking alternative routes which of course were much more time consuming for a distace of about 2 kilometers.
According the news reports, some Tehrik-e-Taliban, Darra Adam Khel has taken the responsibility of the blast, which in itself is an ambiguity if one takes into consideration the ongoing peace process initiated by the government of NWFP.
Whoever the perpetrators might be, it is an act extremely shameful which should be condemened by all.
I’ve just come to know that I’ve lost one of my dear school fellow in the incident as well. Alas! what lovely fellow this ocean eyed chap was! Iftikhar was one of the nicest of my class fellows who I can vividly remember would sing “pyari ma’an mujhko teri dua chahiye … jab shahadat milay mujhko kashmir may aur kya chahiye”…
His childhood dream to be a shaheed is fulfilled, but the way it has happened, tears my heart.

May his sould rest in peace!