One village mourns as the world celebrates
The village was earlier known for its volleyball players but now the game is no longer played as most of the village's players perished in the attack
Islamabad: was once a place full of cheer and laughter. But exactly a year after a New Year's suicide bombing, Shah Hassan Khel in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has turned into a ghost village with nearly every family having lost a family member or a friend.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in the village January 1, 2010 at a time many had gathered to watch a local volleyball match in a field. Over 100 people died.
The village was earlier known for its volleyball players but now the game is no longer played as most of the village's players perished in the attack.
"We have been robbed of our laughter," a villager said.
The Express Tribune yesterday reported that every family in the village had lost a loved one — be it a son, a brother or friend.
Shah Hassan Khel has now turned into a ghost village and there is a tight security cordon of the army and the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) with local police guarding it round the clock.
Entry is allowed to locals after the production of identity cards.
"The village has been dead for a year now," Salim Mohammad, a resident said.
Salim lost a son and two nephews in the bombing.
Barbarism
"It was barbarism against the people of this village," said Qudratullah, whose brother, a volleyball player, was killed in the attack.
The village has 500 households with a population of around 4,000.
Mushtaq Ahmad, another local, told the daily that it was lively village before the militants took it over.
"They had money and all the bad elements of the village joined them. Soon after they started their moral policing across the village," he said.
"It was village of cheerful people, but after that attack the children and women are fearful of any loud sound. We live in fear of everything," Ahmad added.
