Nine martyred, 28 injured in Peshawar terrorist attack

PESHAWAR: Nine mostly students were martyred, while 28 others sustained injuries when three militants attacked the Directorate General of Agriculture located opposite the University of Peshawar and Islamia College University on Friday morning.

The building that was attacked houses offices and two hostels of the Agriculture Institute and Pakistan Housing Authority. Officials said the Buraqa-clad attackers arrived in a rickshaw with a fake registration plate and tampered chassis number. It was learnt that the attackers first took out the watchman identified as Abdul Hameed and then barged into one of the two hostels from where most of the students had left for home for the long weekend.

The police and Army commandos arrived at the spot within a few minutes to take on the attackers at the hostel inside the Directorate General of Agriculture building. The encounter continued for quite some time before the three attackers were killed.

The martyrs were identified as watchman Abdul Hameed, students Qasim Ali belonging to Dir, Bilal Ahmad hailing from Shangla, Amin Khan from Bannu, Abdul Hadi from Kohistan, Bilal from Dir, Bilal Arif from Oghi, Waseem Khan from Orakzai Agency and Sarzameen from Buner. The condition of wounded journalist Raham Yousafzai, two police officers, two soldiers and others is stated to be out of danger.

The bullets from Raham Yousafzai have been removed by the surgeons and his condition is stated to be stable.

“Police responded to the attack within three to five minutes. The Army troops also arrived in time. With excellent coordination, the law-enforcers managed to minimise the casualties,” Inspector General of Police Salahuddin Mehsud told reporters.

He added that an armoured personnel carrier was sent to evacuate the students and others. The IGP said the cops and soldiers fought the attackers and simultaneously evacuated the trapped people. “We are sorry over the loss of life. Nine students embraced martyrdom in the attack.

Two police officers, two Army officers and one journalist were wounded,” he said.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Muhammad Tahir and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Sajjad Khan armed with machine guns led the operation. “Instead of wasting time on wearing uniform I rushed to the spot in whatever I was wearing to supervise the operation to boost morale of my men. The CCPO too reached the spot like a soldier,” said Sajjad Khan.

Investigators recovered two suicide jackets, 17 hand-grenades, three Kalashnikov rifles with several magazines and other explosives after the operation ended on Friday.

An eyewitness Arif said he and other students were asleep in their rooms when the firing started and they ran for their lives but two of them were hit by bullets. They shifted their friends to the hospital amid firing, Arif added.

Another eyewitness said most of the students had left for their hometowns due to the long weekend or else the number of casualties would have been higher. The students lodged at hostels are doing courses for diploma in agricultural sciences.

The IGP told reporters that the militants do not have any hideout in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata as their backbone has been broken and the marked decrease in terror attacks in recent years is its proof. Salahuddin Mehsud said that 419 militants were arrested during the current year. He said that 376,965 houses were checked during the ongoing year all over the province to deny shelter to criminals and terrorists.

Lauding the police and Army for conducting a successful operation against the terrorists during the Friday’s attack, Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said the law-enforcers were alert to respond timely to the attack. The PTI chief Imran Khan and other politicians lauded the police for their prompt response to the attack.

However, some people on the social media criticised the police and other agencies and termed the attack the result of a security lapse. The leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a coalition partner of the PTI in KP were among those who criticised the federal and provincial governments. “The occurrence of two major attacks in Peshawar within eight days speaks volumes about the poor law and order. The federal and provincial governments need to shun political differences and work for the restoration of peace,” JI Peshawar district head Sabir Hussain Awan told a meeting on Saturday.

The occurrence of two major terror attacks in Peshawar within a period of just eight days has set the alarm bells ringing for the government and its law-enforcement agencies. Friday’s attack was the second in the city within eight days after Additional Inspector General of Police Muhammad Ashraf Noor was martyred in a suicide bombing in Hayatabad town in Peshawar on November 24.

Investigators on Saturday remained busy collecting evidence from the Agricultural Training Institute as they started probing Friday’s attack. High-level meetings were held on Friday and Saturday in the wake of the recent attacks to discuss measures to tighten security in a bid to avert more attacks.

Agencies add: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor has said Afghan soil was used for terrorist attack in Peshawar.

Talking to a private television channel, he said the TTP terrorists were in contact with their leadership in Afghanistan and all the evidence has been forwarded to the DGMO Afghanistan. “Afghan Director General Military Operations (DGMO) is currently visiting Pakistan and the evidences of TTP sanctuaries (in Afghanistan) were handed over to him,” the DG ISPR said. He said the TTP leadership has taken shelter in Afghanistan. “We have substantial evidence to provide to the Afghan authorities about terrorist sanctuaries in their country,” he said.

Shedding light on operation that continued for around two hours, he commended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police for their timely response and competence. Asif Ghafoor maintained that the police took effective measures while initiating the operation.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb and other leaders strongly condemned the terrorist attack. In their separate statements, they expressed sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. They also lauded the effective operation of the security forces and resolved that the residual terrorism would be crushed soon.