Peshawar mosque tragedy: Terror network identified, says minister

PESHAWAR: The network behind the suicide attack on a mosque in the heart of the city was identified and some suspects were taken into custody as the death toll from the Koocha Risaldar blast rose to 63 on Saturday.

Officials of the Lady Reading Hospital said that more critically injured patients lost their battle for life, raising the death toll to 63. The officials said 37 wounded were still under treatment while the condition of five of them was critical.

"The network behind the attack has been identified. We are working to dismantle it soon," Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazzam Jah Ansari told The News.

There were some reports that the same network was involved in a grenade attack on the Phandu Police Station last month where three policemen were wounded.

A source said the special investigation teams of the Counter-Terrorism Department and Peshawar Police were conducting operations to dismantle the network behind the terrorist incident.

"The network behind the attack was identified within hours. The family of the suicide bomber as well as the facilitators have been identified and the remaining network will be busted within 48 hours," Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Ijaz Khan along with spokesman for the provincial government Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif told a press conference.

The city police chief said police and the Counter-Terrorism Department collected fingerprints of the bomber from the pistol as well as other evidence from the spot to find clues about the attackers. "The CCTV footage of the area within five kilometres and other forensic evidence from the spot helped the investigation teams reach the family and facilitators of the bomber," said Ijaz Khan.

He added the auto-rickshaw used by the bomber had also been taken into custody along with the driver. The CCPO said security was alert in the city on Friday and the mosque was provided with police guards. He added around 5,000 policemen were deployed for the security of the anti-polio vaccination teams. He said security arrangements were also made at the worship places for the religious occasion of the Hindu community. He said the bomber was trained. Mohammad Ali Saif said the group had been identified and it would be busted soon and details shared with the media.

"Policemen were deployed at the mosque and other places of the city. The cops sacrificed their lives while performing duty," said Saif.

He said the security agencies were in close coordination to bust the network.

The CCTV footage showed the suspected bomber coming out of an auto-rickshaw to the spot.

The entire city was in mourning on Saturday when funeral prayers for the deceased were offered in Kohati and other parts of the provincial capital.

A number of trade centres remained closed while the flow of traffic was low compared to other days, a day after the blast. The blast was the deadliest attack in Peshawar in many months.

A large number of people attended the two collective funeral prayers for the victims of the Friday blast, offered at 10am and 11am. Many were still in shock after losing family members. Strict security arrangements were made in the area for the funerals.

"This is a conspiracy against Pakistan. We have sacrificed many lives for the country and will continue more sacrifices for it," said religious leader Khurshid Akhunzada after the funeral.

He said the Shia and Sunni lived happily together in the city and those who wanted to divide them were the enemies of Islam.

He asked for improved security of the worship places and going after the terrorists.

CCPO Ijaz Khan, Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mahsud and SSP Haroon-ur-Rashid offered fateha for the departed souls after visiting the families of the victims of the Friday blast. A number of political leaders and people from different walks of life visited the families to offer condolences.

Leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl visited Akhundabad at Kohati on the directives of central chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman to express solidarity with Shia community. Delegations of TNFJ also visited aggrieved families to condole with the families.

Meanwhile, in a major development, all the three suspects involved in the suicide blast had been identified by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police and the investigation agencies, revealed Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday.

In a video message shared on his Twitter handle, Sheikh Rashid said that the police and investigation agencies had reached close to the suspects and hoped that they would be arrested in the next two to three days.

The interior minister had earlier hinted at the involvement of foreign forces trying to destabilise the country and vowed to foil their nefarious designs.

In the video statement, the minister also urged the opposition not to create confusion and misunderstanding among the people and said, “Floods, earthquakes or pandemics do not destroy the country but rumours and anarchy harm a state.”

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Faiz Hameed visited the imambargah at Koocha Risaldar and offered condolences on the death of innocent worshippers.

A handout said they expressed sympathies with relatives of those lost their lives in the incident. They also prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls and early recovery of the injured.

They condemned the incident in the strongest possible words and resolved to fight the menace of terrorism.

The governor, chief minister and corps commander said the entire nation should understand the common enemy's motives behind such incidents. They said the enemies were conspiring to divide the nation, urging the nation to demonstrate unity and fight back the enemy with the spirit of national spirit.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said the loss inflicted in the tragedy was huge and irreparable, which could not be compensated.

He vowed the government would spare no effort to bring the culprits to justice, adding that an effective strategy was being chalked out to prevent such incidents in future.

Mahmood Khan maintained the necessary steps were being taken to beef up the security of places of worship and other sensitive spots across the province. He said though the war against terrorism was not easy to fight, with the spirit of national unity and cohesion, nation would defeat the menace.

Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Faiz Hameed said security forces were committed to eradicating the menace of terrorism with the support of the people. He called for coordination among the relevant entities.