Mohmand Agency Mosque Bombing (2016)
The Mohmand Agency mosque bombing, which occurred on September 16, 2016, was a devastating militant attack in the village of Payee Khan, Pakistan. The assault, carried out by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar—a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban—resulted in the tragic deaths of thirty-six individuals, with over forty others injured, including children. During Friday prayers, a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device inside the mosque, significantly impacting the local community. This attack was part of a broader pattern of violence attributed to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which had been involved in several high-profile assaults against both Christian and Muslim targets in the preceding years. The group claimed the mosque bombing was retaliatory in nature, linked to local tribes collaborating with government forces against militant activities. The incident reflects ongoing tensions and security challenges in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, particularly concerning radical Islamist movements and their impact on civilian populations. The attack garnered widespread condemnation from Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who reiterated the government's commitment to combating terrorism in the region.
Subject Terms
Mohmand Agency Mosque Bombing (2016)
Date: September 16, 2016
Place: Mohmand Agency, Pakistan
Summary
The Mohmand Agency mosque bombing was a militant attack on a mosque in the village of Payee Khan in Mohmand Agency, Pakistan, that resulted in thirty-six deaths and more than forty injured. The attack was later attributed to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban.
Key Figures
Naveed Akbar: Assistant administrator of Mohmand Agency.
Ensanullah Ehsan: Spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
Omar Khalid Khorasani: Former leader of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, reportedly killed in 2016.
Nawaz Sharif: Prime minister of Pakistan.
Key Events
- March 15, 2015—Double suicide bombings by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar at two Christian churches in Lahore leave fifteen dead and more than seventy injured.
- March 27, 2016—Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide bombing at a park in Lahore kills seventy people during an Easter Sunday gathering at the park.
- September 16, 2016—Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide bomber attacks mosque in the village of Payee Khan, Mohmand Agency, killing thirty-six and leaving more than forty injured.
Status
On February 13, 2017, another attack by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar killed at least fifteen people in Lahore, at a protest by pharmacy workers against a new drug law. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif released a statement condemning the attack and reiterating the government's commitment to eliminating the Pakistani Taliban and all remaining splinter groups.
In-Depth Overview
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban) is a radical Islamist organization founded in 2007 through a union of thirteen militant factions, most of which represent the Mehsud tribal lineage of the nation's northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border of Afghanistan. The group was initially led by Baitullah Mehsud of the Mehsud tribe. The TTP is a conservative, antimodernist movement that seeks to eliminate Western influence and restore traditional systems of governance and hierarchies of power. While TTP espouses a conservative and radical version of Islamic philosophy, the organization's ideology is a blend of Islamic philosophy and ancient tribal practices that have been part of the culture of the FATA for centuries.
Under pressure from the government of Pakistan, and after US drone strikes killed hundreds of members, including former leaders Baitullah Mehsud (2009) and his cousin Hakimullah Mehsud (2013), the organization fragmented into at least twelve splinter groups, while the main faction continued under the leadership of Maulana Fazulullah. One of the splinter groups, led by Omar Khalid Khorasani, was Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (Party of Freedom Fighters), which was active in the Mohmand Agency, one of the districts of the FATA bordering Malakand in the east and Peshawar in the southeast. Khorasani was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in July 2016. Former TTP leader Ehsanullah Ehsan also joined Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and has served as the group's chief spokesman.
Attacks claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar began in 2014. On March 16, 2015, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militants conducted a double suicide bombing, targeting two Christian churches in Lahore. The two explosions wounded more than seventy and left at least fifteen dead. Then, a year later on March 27, 2016, the group conducted their deadliest attack, a bomb at a public park in Lahore where hundreds were gathered, many local Christians there to celebrate the Easter Sunday holiday. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed that the group was targeting Christian men, though media reports and statements from government officials indicated that most of those killed were Muslim and many were children. Another attack claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in June 2016, this time targeting members of the legal community gathered at a hospital in Quetta, killed at least seventy as well.
While the group had gained a reputation for attacking the nation's Christian population, on September 16, 2016, a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide bomber attacked the mosque in Payee Khan (also spelled Pai Khan), a small village in Mohmand Agency, a district of FATA. According to police, there were around two hundred people in the mosque for Friday prayer services when the bomber entered the main room of the building and detonated an improvised explosive device. Some witnesses reported that the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great"). An assistant administrator for Mohmand Agency, Naveed Akbar, said that the mosque was one of the largest in the region.
Police reports indicated that the attack killed thirty-six people, including some who succumbed to wounds after the explosion. Two children under ten years old were killed and four other young children were reportedly among the wounded. Akbar said that some of the fatalities were due to the ceiling of the mosque caving in after the attack. Government officials theorized that the recent increase of violence in the region was due to the intensification of military efforts in nearby areas targeting TTP cells. In the statement issued by spokesman Ehsan, the group claimed that the attack was revenge for recent events in which civilian members of local tribes had begun helping the government in its fight against Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militants. Tribal leader Haji Subhanullah Mohmand confirmed the claims, reporting that a group of local tribesman organized a volunteer force that killed one militant and captured another.
Bibliography
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Firdous, I. (2016, September 16). At least 28 killed in suicide blast at Mohmand Agency mosque. The Express Tribune. Retrieved from http://tribune.com.pk/story/1182675/huge-explosion-mosque-mohmand-agency/
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