PESHAWAR: The provincial capital has suffered almost 40 terrorist attacks since the launch of military operation in troubled Malakand Division last June.
The Friday blast in Soekarno Square was the deadliest so far, followed by explosion at the Pearl Continental (PC) hotel on June 9 that killed 17 people and injured over 50 others. Only a day after the PC blast, a police party on Ring Road near Charsadda Road was first attacked with a hand grenade and later hit by a suicide bomber to kill one person and injure eight policemen.
Intelligence reports about tasking terrorists to hit any target in Peshawar are being received on a daily basis. An alleged suicide bomber was caught along with two accomplices only a day before the Soekarno Square blast.
The city was attacked with almost 40 rockets in around a dozen barrages during the last less than one month. These rockets have landed in almost all parts of the provincial capital. Also, attacks on Nato terminals seem to have started once again as four vehicles were torched early Friday, exactly in the area where two oil tankers were attacked last month.
The situation has resulted in erecting barricades on almost all the main entry points to the city and cantonment, causing inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of Peshawarites everyday. Apart from the inconvenience, the dwellers of the city are scared of almost daily terrorism incidents. This has forced many to change their planning, as they fear a bleak future of the city ahead due to wrong policies of tackling terrorists.
The holy month of Ramazan proved to be the most peaceful when only two terrorist attacks were reported, both in the first two days. One of the attacks occurred in Hayatabad where two people were killed while a suicide bomber blew himself up on the next day in Momin Town, killing five.
Peshawar has proved to be a soft target for terrorists since 2004. However, the ongoing wave of terror intensified first with the launch of military operation in Swat and then in the tribal agencies.
Peshawarites started to bear the brunt of the army action on May 8 when three rockets were fired at its international airport. A police van was attacked by the terrorists in Chamkani on May 12 when the cops were transporting some infamous militants. Police not only foiled the attack but also managed to gun down five attackers including a top leader of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Nato container terminals on the Ring Road were attacked twice in mid May, torching several trailers and containers. A suicide attack on FC camp near Matani killed 11 persons, including security personnel on May 11 while a huge blast ripped through the crowded Barrisco Bazaar near Aasya Gate on May 14, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others. The same day another explosion occurred in congested Gora Bazaar of the Peshawar cantonment that killed a minor girl and wounded four others when people were busy in shopping.
A high-intensity blast outside the Tasveer Mahal Cinema in Kabuli Chowk on May 21 killed another 12 people. Over 65 people, mostly labourers, were injured in the explosion that destroyed the cinema building and nearby establishments.
Terror struck the city again on May 28 with twin blasts in Qissa Khwani and a suicide attack on a police post in Sra Khawra on Kohat Road in quick succession. A total of nine people were killed in these terrorist attacks.
On June 3, a school was targeted with bombing in Sulemankhel village while a police van was blown up and its driver killed in another attack on police party in Hazarkhwani on June 8. Another school was blown up in Tirayee Payan on second day of Eidul Fitr.
Peshawar seems to be literally under siege where dwellers fear happening anything untoward to their lives and families. Police say that strict security measures have been taken in and around the town to protect its almost 3 million residents, but the fact is that the terrorist continue to hit targets right under the nose of several security agencies.
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