Peshawar in grip of insecurity due to militant attacks

Insecurity and uncertainty is prevailing in the jurisdiction of Matani and Badaber police stations due to the militant attacks on the provincial capital through these two areas for the last five weeks. There were two major bombings and the killing of an expert of the bomb disposal unit in a small blast while over a dozen improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were defused. The militants have been kidnapping and killing people in the jurisdiction of the two police stations since August 31. A major reason for the trouble in these areas is stated to be the long boundary with the Khyber Agency, which is a tribal area, and the semi-tribal Darra Adamkhel. Militants are active in both these places. “The police, the political administration of Khyber Agency and Frontier Regions of Peshawar and Kohat as well as other security forces on both sides of the boundary are struggling to stop the movement of militants from Khyber Agency and Darra Adamkhel to Peshawar,” said an official. Since senior officers are not ready to be posted there, the deputy superintendent of police in the area, Khurshid Khan, was given shoulder promotion as SP Rural while an inspector, Fazal Maula was appointed DSP Saddar to supervise these areas in the jurisdiction of Badaber and Matani police stations. The former SP Rural, Kalam Khan, and former DSP Saddar Abdul Rashid Khan, were killed in suicide attacks in these areas in the recent past. The police have come under attack in the area quite often. On August 31, up to 12 people were killed and several others were wounded in a powerful car blast in the bazaar in Matani. Another major bombing at the Scheme Chowk killed nine people and injured many others on September 19. Besides, the bomb disposal unit thwarted two major bombings in Peshawar by defusing 110 kilograms and 40 kilograms of explosives planted in pushcarts on two different occasions. During the last week of September, the chief expert of the BDU, Hukam Khan, was killed when he defused one IED but fell victim to another one planted by the militants nearby. The BDU defused four IEDs in the area that day. Another bombing bid was foiled when the militants planted an IED close to the body of a man in Badaber. Several other IEDs were also defused during the last five weeks in Matani and Badaber. Last week, a sub-inspector of the Matani police station along with two other cops was wounded when attacked by the militants near Ghaziabad. The police later claimed to have killed four of the attackers. Kidnappers are also active in the area while taking advantage of the weak writ of the state. A group of kidnappers barricaded the main Kohat Road in Matani a few days back and kidnapped the district revenue officer of Bannu along with a gunman and his driver while on way to Peshawar. Four other people in two cars were also kidnapped. The district revenue officer later escaped from the custody of the kidnappers, who killed his driver and gunman the next day. No progress has been made in the recovery of the four other kidnapped people. The police and political administration have also failed to recover three employees of the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company and 11 labourers when they were kidnapped while working to repair a blown up power pylon in February.