Five PAF Badaber Camp attackers identified

PESHAWAR: Five of the 13 attackers who stormed the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Camp in Badaber and killed 29 people belonged to the Khyber Agency and Swat.
A source told The News that the identification was made through the fingerprints collected from the bodies of attackers by forensic experts. The specimens of the bodies of attackers have also been sent for DNA tests.
Security personnel have extended the scope of the investigation into the Badaber attack to the Khyber Agency and Frontier Regions of Kohat and Peshawar.
According to a source, three attackers including 19-year old Adnan, 21-year old Sirajuddin and 27-year old Ibrahim belonged to the Khyber Agency. Muhammad Ishaq, 27, was also identified and he hailed from the Kabal Tehsil in Swat. The address of the fifth attacker identified as Rab Nawaz, 20, wasn’t yet known though he was stated to be from Swat.
The source said that raids were conducted in Swat and Khyber Agency to hunt down the facilitators and find out more about the attackers. The bodies of the rest of the eight attackers are yet to be identified. The DNA samples have been sent to laboratory that will give its report in a few days. The data and record of telephonic conversations of the attackers is also being collected to trace the group and its activities.
As many as 13 militants attacked the PAF camp in Badaber in Peshawar early Friday. The base is not operational and is used for residential purposes.
The Pakistan Army Spokesman, Maj Gen Asim Salim Bajwa, said one of the two groups of the attackers entered the mosque and killed 16 people, including the prayer leader, ahead of the Fajr prayers.
He said seven other PAF personnel were killed in the nearby barracks while performing ablutions and preparing for the prayers.
The Quick Response Force (QRF) and security personnel of the PAF engaged the attackers and gunned down all of them after an exchange of fire that continued for a couple of hours.
Interestingly, none of the attackers was wearing any suicide jacket. They were, however, carrying rocket-launchers, hand-grenades and automatic weapons. The security of the government and security forces’ institutions was beefed up after a recent tip-off that a group of militants was planning to carry out attacks, particularly on the PAF installations.
Search operations have been intensified in Peshawar and surrounding areas after the attack to find out as to who facilitated the attackers and where they stayed before the attack. At least 68 people, including Afghan nationals, were held on Sunday during search operations in the provincial capital.
According to District Police Officer of Kohat, Sohaib Ashraf, 96 suspects were arrested in the district since Friday.
NNI adds from Islamabad: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has expressed anger over making public the profiles of identified terrorists involved in the Badaber Camp attack.
According to the Interior Ministry spokesperson, an investigation has been ordered to find out who leaked the profiles, adding that the leak could negatively impact the ongoing investigation, a private television channel reported on Sunday.
The Interior Ministry spokesperson stated that terrorists were identified the day the incident took place but this information was withheld on purpose due to the sensitivity of matter.
The spokesperson said it appears sharing of information between institutions caused the premature revelation of this information which, the statement said, should never have happened.
The statement also said that as per the evidence and records, at least eight terrorists appeared to be foreigners. It said that more time was required to determine their nationalities.