|
The Kharotabad Incident refers to the deaths of four Russians and one Tajik] citizen at a Frontier Corps (FC) checkpoint in Kharotabad area of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan in May 2011. They were shot on the basis of reports that they were suicide bombers. A police surgeon who testified against the official account was later also claimed to be shot dead.〔http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-115862-Quetta-Cop-fired-after-Kharotabad-shooting-gunned-down〕 == The incident == On May 20, 2011, a group of 4 Russian citizens and 1 Tajik, (3 women and 2 men) had been travelling in a rented car in Balochistan, a province of Pakistan. They had passed through several police checkpoints and even been searched, but as they approached another checkpoint in the Kharotabad neighborhood of Quetta, they exited the car and proceeded on foot. A previous security checkpoint near the Quetta airport had sent a message to the place they were now that five Chechens were approaching the Kharotabad checkpoint. The Frontier Corps soldiers and Balochistan Police manning the Kharotabad checkpoint came to understand that they were about to be attacked by Chechen suicide bombers and acted accordingly. As the 5 travelers approached the checkpoint they were greeted with a volley of bullets and all fell to the ground. There was a long period during which no firing was done, and during which several of the victims were still alive and moving, including the two women who were seen holding hands. One of the injured women on the ground waved her arm and pleaded for mercy. It is during that time that TV crews and many officers arrived on the scene. Then another volley of bullets was fired at the group as they lay on the ground until no sign of life could be seen. This second volley of bullets was filmed and photographed by many members of the Press and by Pakistani TV crews. The corpses were then pulled away from each other with ropes tied around their wrists and ankles for it was feared that they wore suicide vests. Initial news reports, that persistently only identified the five as Chechens, indicated that they were suicide bombers that were in possession of grenades and explosives and that they had hurled grenades at police. There was even a report of a Pakistani soldier killed in the "exchange" (a likely case of friendly fire). The day after the incident, the Quetta chief of police, Dawood Ahmad Junejo, stated in a Press conference that "The five Chechens were not killed in firing by security personnel, but in a bomb explosion". He further stated that "five mobile phones, two diaries, 48 fuses, seven detonators, a computer disc and CDs were recovered from the alleged suicide bombers". Later reports in the media proclaimed that the foreigners had "little else except shampoo bottles", but was followed by conflicting reports and statements.〔http://tribune.com.pk/story/182692/kharotabad-firing-incident-foreigners-had-little-else-except-shampoo-bottles/〕 The daily Dawn on Thursday quoted witnesses as saying that the suspects were unarmed, had put up no resistance to the security forces and appeared to be about to surrender when they were gunned down. Officials of a bomb disposal squad which searched the bodies after the shooting told Reuters that they found no explosives strapped to the bodies of the Chechens. They were unarmed and had no suicide jackets or explosives with them,” one of the officials said. “Five valid and two expired Russian passports were found in a ladies’ handbag lying with the bodies,” the second official said. An autopsy performed on the bodies of the five Russians determined that all died from bullet wounds, and found no trace of explosives on their bodies. One of the women was 7 months pregnant. Later news articles revealed that the five had been forced to bribe their way through police checkpoints, where the policemen had even asked for sexual favors from the young women. When a similar incident occurred at subsequent checkpoint, the group fled, asking their hired Pakistani driver to find a route to by-pass further checkpoints. This is when their driver made them get out of the car and continue on foot. The second checkpoint called the one where the shootout occurred to warn them about the car with the five Chechen foreigners. One article stated that Policemen had taken all their money from them (a bribe )," he said. "Then they prayed at a mosque along with the women. Local people told them to lodge a complaint at the PFC check post against the police. The policemen, however, told the PFC people (phone ) that the five people were suicide bombers." A police surgeon who performed an autopsy on the deceased, Dr. Baqir Shah, while testifying in court, rejected the claim that the foreigners had attacked the police with hand grenades. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kharotabad Incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|