Demonic tattoo on Peshawar airport attacker's body raises questions about their identities

Islamabad, Dec. 17 (ANI): The discovery of a 'Western-style' tattoo on the back of one of the 10 terrorists involved in Saturday night's attack on Peshawar airport has raised questions about the identities of those behind the assault.

"It is the first time that I have seen tattoos on the bodies of terrorists," said a security official who has been part of several counter-terrorism operations in the tribal regions.

Security officials believe at least five of the 10 attackers to be of Uzbek nationality, reports The Express Tribune.

The image, though incomplete, appears to be a rendition of a Boris Vallejo sorcery-fantasy character. Vallejo, a Peruvian-born American painter, works almost exclusively in the fantasy and erotica genres. Swords and sorcery gods and monsters are some of his recurrent themes, the paper said.

"Skulls, in my opinion, are demonic representations, but only in visualisation. They represent strength, rebelliousness and serious drawbacks. Mostly people who get such tattoos want to give out a message that they defy death, those who have seen death very closely, including criminals, gangsters and even rock stars," said a Lahore-based tattoo artist.

Commenting on the tattoo on the militant's body, he said, "It looks 10 to 12 years old. The outlines, curves and shading clearly tell that it has not been made by an expert."

Professor Khursheed Ahmed, who has written several books on Islam and is associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami said that having tattoos on the human body is against the spirit and teachings of Islam.

"You cannot perform religious duties if you have tattoos on your body. A practicing Muslim cannot have such images on his body," he said.

Khursheed maintained that the Peshawar airport attack confirmed "our fears that some foreign hands are carrying out these terrorist attacks in the name of Islam."

A security official said the tattoo on the body of the terrorist exposed the claims of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) - which has already claimed responsibility for the attack- that they were fighting for Islam. (ANI)