Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmad Baig, Surgeon General and Director General of Medical Services, Pakistan Army was among eight killed in a suicide attack at Mall Road, here on Monday.
Mushtaq's guard and driver and five civilians were killed while 20 other injured when a suicide bomber under the guise of a beggar blew himself up near the car of the general when he was passing through the heavy traffic of busy Mall Road.
Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, who was also the principal of the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, was the highest-ranking military officer killed in a suicide attack so far.
According to eyewitnesses, the suicide bomber hit the staff car at 2.55pm killing Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig, driver Naik Anwar and guard on the spot and injuring 20 others. The explosion also damaged over 10 vehicles passing nearby at the time of explosion.
Eyewitnesses said that a white car had hit the staff car of General Mushtaq, however the officials negated this statement saying that the bomber was apparently on foot and struck the car when it stopped on a signal.
The injured were rushed to Military Hospital, Combined Military Hospital, District Headquarter Hospital and Rawalpindi General Hospital. Five injured including a woman Ghulam Sakeena of Sihala succumbed to injuries at CMH. Three dead bodies and six injured were brought to CMH, four injured to MH and one each to DHQ Hospital and RGH. The injured included Sheikh Usman, Muhammad Ameer, Waheed, Adeel Sheraz and Arif who have been admitted in hospitals.
The explosive device, weighing about 5 to 7 pounds was filled with nails and other iron particles and detonated at rush hours outside the National Database and Registration Authority office.
Immediately after suicide explosion, police and Army officials cordoned off the area and Mall Road was completely blocked for vehicular traffic while people were not allowed to move near the place of incident. All shops, offices, banks and financial institutions were closed.
Pakistan Army, Police, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence and other organisations took part in relief and rescue operation. Security officials took the head and legs of the suicide bomber to CMH for DNA test. The damaged cars and other vehicles were removed from the spot after three hours.
A special investigation team comprising Pakistan Army, FIA, police and the CIA staff has been constituted to probe the incident. City Police Officer Syed Saud Aziz when asked about the causes of the explosion, refused to give any statement saying that investigation team has been constituted to probe into the incident and it is premature to say anything. Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig belonged to Sultanpur, District Chakwal. He completed his medical education from King Edward Medical College, Lahore.
He was commissioned in Medical Corps of Pakistan Army in 1976 and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on February 8, 2007 and was posted as Surgeon General of Pakistan Army. This was the second such attack against army medical personnel after R A Bazar suicide attack on February 4, 2008 in which over 10 people were killed and 40 injured.
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