PESHAWAR, Oct 16: At least eight people, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa law minister Israrullah Gandapur, were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber exploded outside his residence in Dera Ismail Khan, police said.
More than 30 people were wounded in the attack, including Gandapur’s elder brother, said Irfan Mahsud, the assistant commissioner in Dera Ismail Khan.
Deputy Superintendent of police, Jan Mohammad Khan, confirmed the minister’s death.
Provincial health minister Shaukat Yousafzai also confirmed Gandupar’s death. “I talked to the minister’s brother and he told me that Gandapur has been martyred,” he said.
According to eyewitnesses, the provincial law minister was exchanging Eid greetings with people at his residence in tehsil Kullachi, about 50 kilometres from Dera Ismail Khan, when the suicide bomber detonated his suicide vest.
“I saw so many dead people and injured people crying for help,” said eyewitness Haseeb Khan, whose new white holiday clothes were drenched in blood. “There were arms, legs and heads everywhere.”
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.
Gandapur was a member of the ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), a party led by former cricketer Imran Khan which favours peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
He is the most senior member of the party to have been killed so far.
The Pakistani Taliban have said they are open to talks. But they also say they will not disarm, do not recognise the Pakistani constitution, and will not talk to the government until the army pulls back from their strongholds and all their prisoners are released.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the incident.
“Pakhtunkhwa lost an astute parliamentarian, a decent Pashtun and a brave leader in the martyrdom of Israr Gandapur. May he rest in peace,” tweeted prominent politician Afrasiab Khattak.
Terrorist attack in Qissa Khwani bazaar (Credit: cnn.com)Washington DC, Oct 3: Three consecutive terrorist attacks in Peshawar – which have killed and injured hundreds of innocent people – reflect a growing impatience of the Taliban for the “pre-selected” candidates of 2013 elections to deliver to their demands.
These terrorist attacks – waged by criminal elements in a growing array of Taliban factions – have come after a long period of inactivity. In the lull before the storm, political parties held an All Parties Conference in Islamabad to vote for talks with the TTP. Spear heading the APC were prime minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif and the king maker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Imran Khan.
Here it is relevant to mention that just prior to this year’s elections, the Pakistan army blessed this set of politicians in their bid for power – with the end game of Afghanistan in mind.
But the army – which has since 9/11 supported the Afghan Taliban, while restraining the Pakistani Taliban – has been unable to stop the militants blow back. Instead, its strategy for a pro-Pashtun government in Afghanistan has had major consequences. As Pashtuns from both sides of the Durand line will testify, the Pak-Afghan border is a meaningless entity. A fierce Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan has emboldened their Taliban partners to attack military and state institutions in Pakistan.
In this complex scenario, the newly elected political parties like Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf – which were spared from attacks prior to the elections – are now boxed in between terrorist attacks by militants and the demand for military action against them.
The Taliban is not monolithic, but divided in a bewildering array of groups. Among those striking ferociously of late has been the faction led by Maulvi Fazlullah – who has been sheltering in Afghanistan since the military operation in Swat in 2009.
The Taliban have correctly identified the US and Pakistan military as responsible for drone strikes. However, any moral argument they had won in favor of ending the strikes.. or ending the military operation in FATA.. have been weakened by their killing of common people.
The KP government’s failure to condemn the perpetrators of civilian attacks has apparently emboldened terrorists. Adding fuel to fire, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief followed the massacre of Christians with the demand that the Taliban be allowed to open offices for negotiations.
Those who voted for “change,” – on the PTI’s call – have discovered that the brutal spilling of innocents blood, was not exactly the change they had in mind.
Indeed, if history is to serve as a rear view mirror, politicians need to heed that the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan took place in 2008, after Musharraf and his coalition partners – the Mutehidda Majlis-i-Amal – concluded a series of peace accords with the Taliban. The accords were preceded by MMA-Taliban talks that looked the other way as the militants organized themselves.
In the present scenario, Taliban groups have unleashed terror against civilians even before talks have begun. Their modus operandi appears to be to keep spilling blood until the army withdraws from the tribal areas. The next step, as the Taliban declared in 2009 (prior to the Swat operation), would be to overthrow the constitution of Pakistan and avowedly implement Shariah (Islamic law). In practice, this means tribal law that ushers in pre-Islamic customary laws with a vengeance.
The TTP’s demands ought to give the army and politicians pause as to exactly who they may be negotiating with. The ruthless killing of civilians is hardly adding to the Taliban’s populist base. Perhaps overconfidence by militants that they have politicians in their pocket facilitates these rapid attacks. However, it is the politicians – and ultimately military response – that will determine the security and stability of Pakistan.
In the meantime, the PML (N) government has announced that it will first give peace a chance by holding talks with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. At the same time, it is on record for saying that the violation of a cease-fire by the militants could result in a sustained military operation against them.
With tens of thousands already killed in Pakistan since 9/11, it is critical for the army to draw a workable strategy for the region. Given that US withdrawal from Afghanistan is in sight, Pakistan is throwing weight behind select Pushtun Taliban next door. What is important is that in pursuing the Great Game, it does not lose Pakistan.
Peshawar church massacre (Credit: lakewypilot.com)
PESHAWAR: As bodies became unseemly piles in the morgue and victims offered up mangled injuries for attention, Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) was mercilessly transported back to the horrors of October 28, 2009 when a bomb exploded at Meena Bazaar.
“It is difficult to tell how many people have been killed or injured, they are just pouring in,” said LRH Chief Executive Officer Arshad Javaid initially. “This is the biggest trauma we have had to deal with since the 2009 attack, which killed 139 people.”
And no one was prepared.
The LRH chief confessed the hospital was running short of medicines, supplies, coffins and something he did not need to say out loud – space.
Pervez Masih, an eyewitness waiting to get head and chest injuries looked at, described how an ordinary weekend mass at the 130-year-old church turned into a bloody Sunday. Around 400 people, including the elderly, women and children, were at the church, he estimated. “What sounded like a minor blast occurred outside the church, but people rushed out to the main gate.” That is when the second suicide bomber, clad in a police uniform, ran at the crowd and blew himself up, said Pervez.
“We don’t understand what happened next,” he said, and he does not remember how he reached the hospital.
Principal of Geovernment High School No-4 Nothia William Ghulam and his son Neil William, a student of Khyber Medical College Peshawar, were not as fortunate as Pervez. They died in the blasts, but William Ghulam’s wife, daughter, brother Anwar and sister-in-law survived, however, not unscathed. Anwar and his wife were being treated for head, chest and hand injures at the LRH.
The aftermath of the twin suicide attack has resulted in at least 78 dead and more than 146 injured. By evening, Khyber Teaching Hospital had 25 patients – six women and three minors – and had sent 15 of their nurses to the LRH.
A jolt to the system
As the first closest point of response, the LRH took in the lion’s share of the casualties but Sunday meant lean staff; even the blood bank was shut. Doctors had to be called in; the hospital had to be woken up with a shock to its system.
The first response to any calamity or attack determines many eventualities. Most importantly, it controls the increase in fatalities and severity of injuries. This was near impossible in the attack at the church as ‘ambulances’ took the shape and form of anything with wheels and a working engine. No Rescue 1122, a few Edhi and mostly Al Khidmat ambulances were visible hurrying to the LRH. The latter eventually took bodies waiting to be buried to their homes.
Inside the hospital, while LRH doctors, nurses and staff were being called in, not much could be done about the shortage of space – the dead and the injured remained lying on the floor for nearly three to four hours.
Below ground, the LRH morgue has the official capacity to store 60 bodies. Without sufficient hands on deck, the deceased lay askew on blocks of ice. The hospital had only 52 coffins at a point when it had at least 70 bodies.
The last straw, the first brick
Above ground, the chaos only brewed chaos. As relatives collected inside the halls, there were not enough medical professionals to cater to everyone’s injuries and beds were in short supply. A majority of the injured seemed to be women and children. Distraught, with no place to even sit, loved ones raised a voice, chanting slogans against the absence of facilities and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
“Yeh zalim loug hain, yeh humain is mulk mein nahin jeenay dein geh,” cried an inconsolable family member of a deceased victim.
Younas Masih, an older adult, led the impromptu protest which resulted in some broken window panes and a rowdy crowd. “We are citizens of this country and we have equal rights like other citizens. Why is the PTI government not providing us with security and with facilities in the hospital?”
“We only ask for our rights,” said Younas. “This is a huge loss for us.”
Security lapse?
As the hospital was overrun with patients and caregivers, safety measures were invisible. Standard procedures after a blast dictate heightened security to ensure a second disaster does not follow, bur there were no policemen or private guards visible at the gates or inside.
After the hospital gained some control, LRH chief Javaid assured the victims and their worried caregivers the hospital was fully staffed and will attempt to treat every patient.
Referencing the blood bank which was shut earlier, Javaid promised the hospital was equipped with blood but encouraged people to go and donate.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2013.
Operation in Karachi (Credit: centralasiaonline.com)In Pakistan, the wheel of history has brought the Muttehida Qaumi Movement (MQM) up against a sheer battle for survival. Today the ethnic party of Mohajirs (Urdu speakers from India), is squeezed between a wary, experienced Punjabi prime minister and a Sindh based PPP – that no longer seeks compromise to stay in power.
Small wonder that MQM chief, Altaf Hussain – who fled to London under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure – has denounced the ongoing operation in Sindh as a reminder of the “genocide of Mohajirs” suffered in 1992 under ‘Operation Clean up.’ In so doing, he has appealed to third and fourth generation of Mohajirs, whose fathers may have been killed during that decade in police encounters and extrajudicial killings.
Apparently, the MQM miscalculated when it invited the army to conduct the operation. The first sign that the operation was not to their liking, came, when it’s former MPA, Nadeem Hashmi was arrested for the murder of two policemen – and the party protested by shutting down Karachi and a few urban areas in Sindh. Hashmi’s sudden release from an anti-terrorist court would show the MQM still has political leverage.
But essentially, US plans to withdraw from Afghanistan and the election of a `Taliban friendly,’ government have contributed to the MQM’s woes. In the wake of 9/11, the party reinvented itself as the secular alternative to `Talibanization.’ However, given that the Mohajir-Pashtun conflict is ethnic in nature, the MQM went on a limb to prevent the `Pashtoonization’ of Karachi. As violence erupted in Karachi, it prevented ever migrating Pashtuns from settling there.
After 9/11, US support for Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf facilitated him to patronize the MQM – allowing the ethnic party to reach its hey day. It contributed to the longest tenure for MQM’s Ishrat ul Ebad to govern Sindh – notwithstanding the murder and army kidnapping cases lodged against him in 1992. Former president, Asif Zardari, learning from the rocky tenures of his prime minister-wife, Benazir Bhutto, molly-coddled the MQM – enabling the PPP government to complete its tenure.
The downside was that for the last five years, the MQM and the Awami National Party (representing Pushtoons) fought on ethnic basis for the control of Karachi. The PPP, saved its coalition with the two parties by desisting from action against politically affiliated criminals. Adopting the maxim `If you can’t beat them, join them,’ it patronized armed Baloch groups from Lyari to keep control.
While the PPP government abdicated power, the land mafia dug in and brutal Taliban elements entered Karachi. Murders sky rocketed and extortion, kidnappings for ransom, vehicle thefts and mobile phone snatching soared. All this happened as the US presence in Afghanistan made weapons more accessible than ever. It resulted in 7,000 people being killed in the city in the last five years alone.
Given that Karachi is the back-bone of the nation’s tax base, the business minded Sharif government has focused on returning peace to the city. Senior police officers have been transferred and Rangers deputed to crack down in Karachi. The PPP, now acting as a junior partner of Sharif’s government, coyly says it needs to act against all criminal elements, regardless of party affiliation.
However, the absence of justice in Pakistan’s political system makes the MQM woefully aware that its real “crime,” is being out of power!!
For example, Scotland Yard has only now reinvigorated the three-year-old murder case of Imran Farooq – that implicates MQM chief Altaf Hussain. As Altaf’s demi-God personality comes under challenge, his followers have passionately rallied around him in a `now or never’ battle for survival. Media reports nevertheless, talk about cracks within the MQM – among those who support Ebad’s governorship, and others who want to stay in opposition.
At the end of the day, Sindh seeks an even-handed operation that will rid the province of all criminal elements – regardless of patronage. Presently, the culture of nepotism and absence of just policies keeps people coalescing around ethnicity. In the urban areas – and a mega city like Karachi, it fans a culture of violence that promotes fear and intimidation.
Today the biggest stake holders of Sindh – Sindhis and Mohajirs – need to rid themselves of ethnic prejudices and work together to promote rational policies and good governance. That means taking a lesson from developed nations – where race, ethnicity religion, sect and gender can no longer be used to discriminate and obstruct the common good.
General Officer Commanding Swat, Maj Gen. Sanaullah NIazi (Credit: tribune.com.pk)
Speaking as we would expect from an army chief, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said the military would not allow terrorists to ‘coerce’ the government or people into talks, and that the army had the capability of taking the war to them. General Kayani’s strong words reflect public outrage and national revulsion over Taliban attacks that left at least eight security personnel dead within the past 48 hours. The most senior officer among them was the General-Officer-Commanding Swat, Major General Sanaullah Niazi, whose vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Upper Dir. A lieutenant colonel was also killed in the attack. The army chief stressed the armed services had the ‘ability and will’ to take the battle to the terrorists and would not allow these elements to take advantage of a quest for peace.
Any talks with terrorists must take place from a powerful position; the government must not appear to be cowering before them.
Certainly, this is what seems to be happening now. Following the call by an All Parties Conference to pursue a course of dialogue to solve security issues, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has put out a set of demands which include a troop withdrawal from tribal areas and the release of all Taliban prisoners. At the same time they seem to be bent on continuing their war against the state. Dealing with a force that speaks from a perceived position of strength by accepting any of its terms or even hinting this could happen would be a disaster; quite possibly a fatal one. No state can afford to allow itself to be weakened in this fashion.
General Kayani, whose primary role, of course, is to defend the nation, has done well to speak out forcefully. His words act as a reminder of the act of folly that political players may have been moving towards. Any talks with terrorists must take place from a powerful position; the government must not appear to be cowering before them — and the army chief’s expression of a full readiness to take them on is reassuring given the developments of the past few days and the farcical terms put down by the TTP for talks, which more and more people of rationality believe it would be foolish to attempt to pursue, at least, at the present point in time.
ISLAMABAD: As Al Qaeda marks its 25th anniversary this month, analysts say the recent security threat in Yemen shows the organisation’s centre of gravity is shifting away from its base in Pakistan.
US President Barack Obama has cautioned that affiliates such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a unit of the extremist group that effectively controls parts of Yemen, still pose a threat despite successful efforts to disrupt the organisation’s core leadership.
His warning came after the United States closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa last week after reported intelligence intercepts from Al Qaeda suggested an attack was imminent.
Reports indicated the intercepts involved some kind of group communication between Al Qaeda supremo Ayman al-Zawahiri, and AQAP leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi.
Zawahiri assumed Al-Qaeda leadership when Osama bin Laden was killed in a US special forces raid in Pakistan in 2011 and the 62-year-old Egyptian is believed to be hiding in the border region with Afghanistan.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on Islamist groups in Pakistan, said that while the traditional core leadership of Al-Qaeda — which was was founded in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, in 1988, still retains symbolic importance, its operational centre of gravity has moved.
“In terms of strength, of power, of effectiveness, we can say it has shifted,” he told AFP. “It is no longer Pakistan or Afganistan, so most of the fighters, most of the affiliates, are not in Pakistan and Afghanistan. By and large, the plans are not coming from Zawahiri.”
Zawahiri, who has a $25 million US government bounty on him, lacks the charisma of bin Laden but has long been seen as the brains of Al Qaeda.
Pakistani author and security analyst Imtiaz Gul said that while Al Qaeda’s operational leadership had spread into regional franchises, Zawahiri remained an “inspirational force.”
”They don’t need someone as charismatic as Osama bin Laden was and they have I think ideological ammunition, ideological fuel which is helping them stay afloat,” he told AFP.
The recent revelation of an ambitious plot in Yemen to seize control of two cities, as well as an oil export terminal, showed AQAP to be highly motivated, and Wuhayshi is believed to have been promoted to second in command of the global organisation behind Zawahiri.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, in Washington, said Wuhayshi’s promotion indicated Al Qaeda was broadening the ‘core’ leadership as AQAP grew in expertise.
“When we talk about Al-Qaeda core there’s no reason it can only exist in Afghanistan-Pakistan, Wuhayshi being made the general manager, that very clearly makes him part of the core,” Gartenstein-Ross told AFP.
“We see a geographic shift towards Yemen but that’s not necessarily a shift to AQAP and away from the core, the way I see it, the core is expanding.”
Al Qaeda was established when the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, to unite disparate groups of fighters who had come to battle the occupation, with the aim of taking the jihad to a bigger, more global scale, attacking targets around the world.
But Al Qaeda franchises across the Middle East and north Africa have been increasingly active in recent years and Yemen’s geographical location makes it a more convenient base than Pakistan or Afghanistan for communicating with these groups, Gartenstein-Ross noted.
Washington has been keen to trumpet its successes against Al Qaeda’s central leadership, pointing to the bin Laden raid and commanders killed in the long-running US drone campaign in northwest Pakistan and more recently Yemen.
But a recent report by Canadian intelligence gave a more cautious assessment, pointing out Al Qaeda leadership’s resilience and adaptability in surviving for a quarter of a century in the face of a concerted onslaught.
The report also warned the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan next year, coupled with the Pakistani authorities’ apparent inability or unwillingness to crack down on the organisation, could give it the cross-border physical sanctuaries it needs to survive.
Saifullah Khan Mehsud of Islamabad’s FATA Research Center, an expert on Pakistan’s tribal belt along the Afghan border that has been an important haven for Islamist militants since the 1980s, agreed.
“If Afghanistan is able to come to a common platform, if they agree with each other to have a common political vision for the country in some kind of alliance between different groups, then it will be very difficult for Al-Qaeda to find sanctuaries there,” he said.
“But if there is civil war Al Qaeda will be in a better position to find sanctuary there.”The Taliban, which sheltered bin Laden until the US-led invasion in the wake of 9/11, has said it will not let Afghan territory be used to attack other countries.
Eid security (Credit: thenews.com.pk)Islamabad, Aug 8: The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police have finalised a comprehensive security and patrolling plan on the eve of Eidul Fitr and also augmented the security at public places, worship places and other important buildings to thwart any untoward incident, a police spokesman said.
IGP Islamabad Sikandar Hayat has directed all officials to remain on high alert and fully prepared during Eid days. As per security plan chalked out by SSP Islamabad Muhammad Rizwan, more than 2,500 policemen would perform security duties. Patrolling would be made in various sectors to check possible house burglaries during Eid holidays. However, people have also been appealed to inform relevant police stations before their departure to native areas.
Eid prayers will be offered at 507 places in Islamabad including Masajid, Imambargahs and open places which will be covered by armed guards and policemen. Four SPs, nine ASPs/DSPs, 17 Inspectors will overall look after security arrangements in their respective jurisdictions.
Special Quick Response Force (QRF) teams have been constituted for immediate assistance to citizens while vehicles, earlier serving with various squads, will be on patrolling duty to ensure vigilance during Eid days.
Falcon squads and police commandos including contingents of lady police will also patrol in the city to ensure sense of complete security to citizens on Eid occasion.
According to the plan, policemen would also patrol in the various sectors and police in charges of circles would ensure proper security at the Eid congregations in various locations.
Superintendents of Police (SPs) will conduct checking of security and patrolling duties in their respective areas and to ensure coordination among all the mobile police teams.
More than 140 policemen lead by two SPs, two ASP/DSP, four Inspectors would be only deputed for the security at Faisal Mosque on Eid day while walk through gates and scanners would be installed as a part of security measure.
Sub-Divisional Police Officers and Station House Officers would be responsible of the security around worship places. They may be provided additional force on their request for the effective patrolling and security at Eid congregations in various sectors.
Duty rosters have been prepared by the in charges of police stations and policemen would patrol in various sectors during day and night timings to ensure protection to properties during Eid holidays.
The mobile officers and police guard posted at Mosques, Imambargahs, public/picnic places will take notice of the beggars hovering around the premises and will take legal action against them.
Special focus is to ensure safety to properties and stop incidents of theft and car-lifting during Eid holidays. As a part of security measures, police pickets would be erected at all important entry and exit points for checking of vehicles and SPs of each Zone will visit these points to brief the deployed cops about effective checking and security.
The mobile patrols and squads of Islamabad Traffic Police would also remain present in markets, shopping plazas and at prominent points during Eid congregations. Bomb disposal squad will remain available at short notice and all public places, parks, play grounds will be kept under strict vigilance and security cover.
Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) on special directions of SSP (Traffic) Dr. Moeen Masood has made a special plan and 250 traffic personnel will be deputed at various locations lead by SP, three DSPs and 9 Inspectors. Traffic deployment in shopping areas, markets will be augmented while the patrol cars and pairs will patrol in their respective areas to facilitate the general public.
GILGIT, Aug 8: Security forces intensified search on Wednesday for militants of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in the remote northern town of Chilas, headquarters of the Diamer district, after the killing of three high-profile security officials in the area the previous day. The TTP had claimed responsibility for the shooting.
The slain officials — an army colonel, a captain and a senior superintendent of police (SSP) — were investigating the June 23 killing of nine foreign tourists and one of their Pakistani guides in the area.
Victims of the mountain assault included climbers from China, Lithuania, Nepal, Slovakia, Ukraine and one person with joint US-Chinese citizenship. One Chinese climber had escaped the attack.
“We are at present engaged in a search operation against murderers and are very much hopeful of arresting them soon because 14 suspects have already been taken into custody and are being interrogated,” Ali Sher, Deputy Inspector General of Police who is heading the operation in the area, told Dawn.
Police said hideouts of Taliban were being raided.
Law-enforcement agencies, backed by Pakistan Army, have sealed all entry and exit points of the small town which has a population of 40,000. The town is visited by people of the entire district for different purposes.
The police official said that a rally was also held in the area to condemn the murder of the security officials.
People of the area were in a state of shock and an air of gloom and fear enveloped the area because of the rising number of acts of terror which were previously unknown to them.
The DIG said the entire populace of the area should not be linked with terrorism as this would bring nothing but destruction.
Mr Sher pointed towards activists of banned outfits, but did not say which organisation is behind the attack.
“They (militants) have undergone training at various places and are now totally brainwashed,” he said, adding that they could only be stopped if a political solution was found out.
He said that some possible attacks on other police officials were foiled after a tip-off.
“We arrested a man along with weapons who was trying to kill a superintendent of police in Astore and another in Gilgit. Both are now behind bars and they have confessed before courts. Their cases are being heard,” Mr Sher said.
He said hundreds of houses had already been searched to arrest militants wanted by police.
“Do you know I was also a target in some other areas, but Allah Almighty saved me, but the SSP fell victim,” he said.
The DIG spoke kindly about the people of Diamer, saying they had nothing to do with acts of terrorism, but some hidden powers wanted them in the arena.
Taliban jail break in DI Khan (Credit: ibtimes.com)DERA ISMAIL KHAN/PESHAWAR, July 31: In one of the two biggest jailbreaks in the history of Pakistan, the militants on Tuesday helped 243 prisoners escape from the British-era Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison after killing 12 people, including six policemen, while five attackers were also killed. Around 300 prisoners had escaped in a similar jailbreak in Bannu when scores of militants stormed the dungeon in April last year.
Inspector General Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ihsan Ghani told The News that 60 to 70 men, armed with heavy weapons and explosives, carried out the attack during which around 250 prisoners managed to escape.
A number of hardened militants were among the inmates of the Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison. Among them was Walid Akbar, who had been awarded 1,616 years jail sentence for his involvement in bombing of the Ashura procession in the city last year.
The IGP KP, along with Inspector General Prisons Khalid Abbas and other senior officials of the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, on Tuesday reached Dera Ismail Khan from Peshawar to visit the prison.
Officials and eyewitnesses said over 100 attackers came in vehicles and also on motorbikes to storm the prison from all the four sides simultaneously as one group opened fire on a security checkpost near the jail that was built in 1854.
“The attackers killed six policemen including Mazhar Hussain, Saifullah, Rustam, Mir Zaman and Piao Sardar. Two prisoners from Multan, Sajid and Juma Malang, who had been awarded death sentences, as well as two other inmates, Akhtar Abbas and Muhammad Aslam were also killed inside their barracks,” said an official.
The official said three other people, including the watchman of a bakery, a passerby and an unknown person, were also killed while 16 persons were wounded.Curfew was clamped in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts after the attack and a massive search operation was launched.
Locals said they heard dozens of huge and minor explosions starting from 11:15pm on Monday that continued till 2:30am on Tuesday. “I could count over 30 explosions and it continued after that,” said a resident in Dera Ismail Khan. Due to expansion of the city and increase in the population, the prison is now located in densely populated part and the bomb blasts could be heard in the nearby localities all night. It also scared the people and prompted them not to venture outside.
Dozens of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other explosives were defused during an operation to sweep the prison. “The bomb disposal unit (BDU) experts defused 28 time bombs, four remote-control IEDs, a suicide jacket, five rockets and eight grenades during the search operation. The area has been cleared now,” the chief of the BDU Shafqat Malik told The News. The inmates who escaped from the cell included around 30 militants. Five women prisoners were also among those who fled during the jailbreak.
Expressing anger over the jailbreak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak termed it a failure of the intelligence agencies. He ordered a probe into the jailbreak, vowing to take the strictest action against those found negligent. The joint inquiry committee that he constituted to probe the incident was asked to submit the report within 15 days.
The committee will comprise Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Waqar Ayub, Special Secretary Home Department Syed Alamgir Shah, Additional Inspector General Police (Special Branch) Akhtar Ali Shah and representative of Pakistan Army (Headquarters 11 Corps).
The chief minister said he was told by the authorities recently that adequate measures had been taken for the security of the prison. He said he would visit the jail. He directed the authorities to increase security of the prisons.
Furthermore, 27 cops, including a superintendent of police (SP), were suspended for showing negligence during the whole episode.The authorities had reportedly got reports that the militants were planning to attack the prison. Ominously, a clash inside the Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison a day earlier had resulted in injuries to two cops.
“We had taken shelter in a nearby bakery. The attackers also shot dead the watchman of the bakery when he fired two shots in the air,” said an eyewitness.
Some eyewitnesses said the police arrived too late as armed men had taken positions on all the four sides to counter them.Commissioner Dera Ismail Khan Mushtaq Jadoon told reporters that 242 prisoners had escaped during the attack. He said people were told not to come out of homes as the police and army were clearing the area.
The deputy inspector general (DIG) police, commissioner and deputy commissioner Bannu, IG Prisons and superintendent Bannu Prison were suspended over the Bannu jailbreak in April last year. Militants had helped free around 300 prisoners during the attack. Those who escaped at the time included Adnan Rashid, convicted for his involvement in the attack on the then President General Pervez Musharraf.
Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed that more than 250 prisoners escaped from the jail.“Majority of our people along with the freed prisoners reached a secure place. Some of our very senior people also succeeded to escape,” the spokesman claimed.
The IGP along with home secretary and an additional IG visited the prison and heard the account of the incident from the cops. The IGP suspended SP, DSP of the Elite Force and their subordinates in the area.
An inquiry committee was constituted that comprised additional inspector general of Special Branch and senior member of the Board of Revenue.The IGP also posted Ijaz Ahmad as DIG of Dera Ismail Khan. The DIG was transferred a couple of days back to Mardan.SP Elite Force Toheed and DSP Behram were among 27 cops suspended in Dera Ismail Khan.An investigation team headed by SP Investigation Dera Ismail Khan was also formed.
ISLAMABAD: Suleman spent years targeting members of the Shia community in his home country of Pakistan as a member of sectarian terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Now he is on his way to a new sectarian battleground, Syria, where he plans to join rebels battling President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The short and stocky man, who identified himself using only his first name for fear of being targeted by authorities, is one of an increasing number of militants who have left Pakistan for Syria in recent months.
The fighters have contributed to a growing presence of extremists and complicated US efforts to help the rebels. Many fighters like Suleman believe they must help Syria’s Sunni majority defeat Assad’s Alawite regime.
The presence of religious extremists in Syria looms large over US efforts to help the rebels, especially when it comes to providing weapons that could end up in the hands of America’s enemies. The extremists have also sparked infighting with more secular rebels concerned about their increasing power. Most of the foreign fighters in Syria are from Arab countries, including Al Qaeda militants from Iraq on the rebel side and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon on the regime’s side. The flow of militants from Pakistan adds a new element to that mix.
Pakistani Interior Ministry spokesman Omar Hamid Khan said provincial authorities throughout Pakistan deny that militants have left the country for Syria. But three Pakistani intelligence officials based in the tribal region that borders Afghanistan, as well as militants themselves, say the fighters leaving Pakistan for Syria include members of Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the LeJ.
The fighters fall mainly into two categories. One includes foreign combatants from places like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and likely the Middle East who came to Pakistan’s tribal region to fight US-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan and are now heading to Syria because they view it as the most pressing battle, said the Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. This group includes members Al Qaeda who trained the Pakistani Taliban in areas such as bomb-making and are now moving on to the battlefield in Syria, said Pakistani Taliban fighters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Neither the intelligence officials nor the Pakistani militants were able to provide the total number of fighters who have left the country for Syria, or the route they were taking to get to the Middle East. An activist based in northern Syria, Mohammad Kanaan, said there are Pakistanis fighting in his area but not in large numbers. ”Most … are Arab fighters from Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” he said Sunday. ”But we have seen Pakistanis and Afghans recently as well.”
The second group leaving Pakistan includes mostly domestic members of the Pakistani Taliban and LeJ who are heading to Syria, saying they are being so closely monitored by Pakistani authorities that it makes it difficult for them to carry out operations at home, said a Pakistani Taliban fighter who identified himself only as Hamza.
These militants are under surveillance because they have been detained previously in connection with attacks, or are on Pakistan’s radar because of their importance in their organisations, Hamza said. The group includes Suleman, who was detained during a 2009 attack on an intelligence building in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 35 people. He was eventually released, he told the AP in an interview before leaving for Syria more than a week ago.
Suleman is one of about 70 militants who have been sent to Syria in the last two months by a network jointly run by the Pakistani Taliban and LJ, Hamza said. The militants came from various parts of Pakistan, including the provinces of Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the southern city of Karachi, Hamza said.
Another group of 40, including Hamza, is expected to leave in the coming weeks, he said. These militants are not going to fight with Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, the most powerful Islamic militant group in Syria, Hamza said. But he did not know which group they would join. The head of the network sending these militants is a former leJ leader named Usman Ghani, Hamza said.
Another key member is a Pakistani Taliban fighter named Alimullah Umry, who is sending fighters to Ghani from KP, Hamza said.The militants are traveling to Syria by various routes, and some are taking their families. The most closely watched are secretly taking speed boats from Balochistan’s coast to the Omani capital of Muscat and then traveling onward to Syria, Hamza said.
Others are flying from Pakistan to various countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, and then making their way to Syria. The financing is coming from sources in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Hamza said. Suleman flew to Sudan with his wife and two children using fake passports, he said. He will leave his family in Sudan and then travel to Syria. There are families of other Pakistanis who have gone to Syria already living in Sudan and being taken care of, Suleman said. A member of Jamaat-e-Islami said a small number of its followers have also gone to fight in Syria, but not through any organised network. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being persecuted by the government.
