Ojri Camp : April 10,1988
By Jamshed Khan • Apr 10th, 2010 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look • 7 CommentsApril 10,1988, a day that remains etched in memory. Impossible to forget. It happened when terror attacks had not become as numbingly routine as they have today. That fateful day began in Rawalpindi and Islamabad just like any other day. People started going to offices and schools. Then suddenly,some ominus sounds were heard. One blast,then another, then another, followed by so many that no other sound could be heard.For some reason, I had been delayed that day. If I had been on the road at that time, I could easily have become another casualty.
But what on earth was happening ? Nobody seemed to know.Some thought it was an Indian invasion.The only sources of information back then were state controlled radio and TV. I rushed to the radio and turned it on,only to find the usual programming.Frantic telephone calls were coming in from relatives all over the city.Bombs were exploding,missiles were falling,people were dying and getting maimed.You were lucky if you happened to be in a safe place.Many were not that lucky.Death and destruction rained from the skies.The carnage was random.I know of at least one victim of Ojri Camp,who took many years to die.Completely paralysed by his injuries,he was breathing but only just.I also read horrifying accounts of children who picked up the shells of unexploded ammunition,only to have it explode in their hands.The number of people killed and maimed was staggering.For many days afterwards,we could hear many more explosions as the unexploded munitions were destroyed.
In the aftermath,much was written and many conspiracy theories were broached.But the most pertinent quesion was,why was there an ammunition dump in the middle of a crowded city ? The tragedy of Ojri Camp demanded honest answers but none were forthcoming.
In the past few years,Pakistan has witnessed so many blood curdling terror attacks.But for me ,the horror of those few hours on April 10,1988 remains unforgettable.
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Ojri camp may be called a worst tragedy and disaster of 1998 but this disaster was very much in waiting since long.
The left over pile of US supplied lethal weapons and ammo for Afghan war which included the anti aircraft missile like Stinger Missile and anti tank rocket launchers. Rightly so; this was the part of equipment and Ammo which earlier resulted in defeat of a super power of Soviet Union.
1998— is also the year when Pakistan carried out a nuclear test to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of its nuclear weapons.
1998— is the year when ‘US Cruise missile strikes’ on Afghanistan and Sudan was carried out in so called pursuit of Osama bin Laden stooges.
Reportedly the August 1998 bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (codenamed Operation Infinite Reach by the United States) were American cruise missile strikes on terrorist bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.
Prior to this that US could step up its move further to move in physically into Afghanistan; to come establish its hegemony and to exercise a physical control of all the world mineral resources lying in this area; the disposal of such a lethal stock lying at Ojri Camp and tying up a lose end was but necessary. Lest Al Qaeda could lay hand and use against US advancing forces.
So we got this tragic day…. but what a tragic day. That was the first terrorist attack carried out by CIA paid abetting forces in Pakistan.
And the show goes on…
A Khokhar,the Ojri Camp disaster happened in 1988.The nuclear tests were conducted in 1998.
[...] Ojri Camp : April 10,1988 April 10th, 2010 // { the following post is the lead story at The Pakistani Spectator and its been contributed by: Jamshed [...]
[...] Ojri Camp : April 10,1988 April 10th, 2010 // { the following post is the lead story at The Pakistani Spectator and its been contributed by: Jamshed [...]
Ojri camp blast was not accidental but a planned one. When suppliers of ammunition to people fighting in Afghanistan against USSR became sure of the Afghans win and establishment of a pro-Pakistan regime, they got worried. By that time two panes loaded with ammunition had entered Pakistan airspace. They arranged a scuffle drama at Jamdood and, making that an excused, asked Pakistan to store the ammunition of two planes in Rawalpindi. Ojri Camp had never been an ammo depot, it used to be transit camp for soldiers but was shifted from there years back. The ammunition was temporarily stored there. They then sent another (un-scheduled) plane with some ammunition plus a detonating timed device. This plan had arrived Chaklala airport between 2 and 3 am. The device detonated the whole stock around 10 am.
There were no live electric wires inside the baracks where ammo was stored and hence no electric short-circuiting could take place.
Dear Friends,
MY mistake;
Sorry for that. Indeed Ojjri tragic incident did happen in 1988.
But don’t you think that it looks like that this incident happened— just yesterday.
May be that 22 years have passed but our status quo of—our miseries and anarchy remains the same…. as nothing has changed; rather gone to worse.
Habab Jalib come to mind and he says;
Qatil kahaan badaltey hain, Faqat chehray badaltey hain
Ajab hey apna safar keh fasley bhi saathe chltey hain.
[The killers, oppressors they never change. They only change their flags.
What a journey of mine that even those milestones that I traversed also move with me.
[...] Ojri Camp : April 10,1988 May 15th, 2010 // { the following post is the lead story at The Pakistani Spectator and its been contributed by: Jamshed [...]