Six cops killed in Peshawar, Quetta attacks

PESHAWAR: Six policemen were killed in two separate terrorist incidents in Peshawar and Quetta on Thursday.
In Peshawar, two policemen were killed and six others, including a Deputy Commandant of the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) Malik Tariq, were injured in a suicide attack in Hayatabad Town.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Operations, Dr Mian Muhammad Saeed, said the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into the vehicle of the FRP deputy commandant on Thursday morning when he was on his way to office.
He said two police constables, Ibrar Hussain and Lal Bahadur, were killed in the suicide attack. Apart from the FRP deputy commandant, the six others who were injured included police constables Ismail, Noor Bahadar and Minadar, the driver, and two passers-by Mir Wali and Fida Nazar. The last-named two were said to be Afghan nationals.
SSP Operations Mian Saeed said the attacker was riding a bike and his target was the FRP deputy commandant.An official of Rescue 1122 said the six injured were shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex for treatment. A spokesman for the hospital said the injured were in stable condition.
An official of the Hayatabad Police Station, Naveed Hasan, said the police vehicle was badly damaged in the attack. The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) chief, Shafqat Malik, confirmed that it was a suicide attack and body parts of the attacker were collected from the site of the blast for forensic test. He said that eight kilograms of high-grade explosive material and ball bearings were used in the attack.
The police and security forces rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area after the suicide attack. Police sources said that a search operation was also conducted in the surrounding areas and several suspects were held.
The SHO Hayatabad, Tauheed Khan, lodged the first information report (FIR) in the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Police Station against the unknown attackers under sections 302, 324, 427 Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and section 5 of Explosives Substance Act.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack through its spokesman Muhammad Khurasani, who phoned reporters from an undisclosed location.The FRP is an auxiliary force that can be called up to help the regular police in times of need.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak condemned the suicide attack and expressed grief over the loss of precious lives of police constables in the incident and also extended sympathies to the injured.
He also offered funeral prayers for the slain policemen, Lal Bahadur and Ibrar Hussain, at the Police Lines and announced compensation of Rs3.3 million each for their families.The chief minister, accompanied by Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani and other high-ranking police and civil officers, laid a floral wreath at the coffins.
Pervaiz Khattak said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police were combating terrorists with the highest degree of courage and bravery and such devotion was highly admirable for the KP government and people of the province. He said that though the police were fully alert and the provincial government had provided all the required resources for their security, sometimes the resources also failed to combat the vast network of terrorists.
Agencies add: Four police personnel, including an ASI, were killed in firing on their van by unidentified armed men in the Pashtoonabad area of Quetta on Thursday.Senior police official Aitzaz Goraya confirmed the incident and said a police patrolling van carrying four police personnel, including an ASI a driver and two constables, was on its way on the Mulla Salam Road in the Pashtoonabad area when unidentified armed motorcyclists opened firing, leaving four personnel dead on the spot.
The law enforcement agencies cordoned off the entire area to trace out the suspects. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the terrorist attacks on the police in Peshawar and Quetta. In their separate statements, they prayed for eternal rest of the departed souls and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families.