PESHAWAR – The only thud of an explosion the residents of Christian Colony were ever familiar with was the one caused by mining in the nearby mountains. But on Friday, September 2, at around 5:40 am there was an unfamiliar ratatat followed by the desperate clatter of footsteps. And then they realised that the sound they were hearing was the sound of guns.
As long-limbed men in khaki contained the attackers at the colony on Warsak Road in Peshawar, a suicide bomber was busy blowing himself up at the district courts in Mardan. Both assaults were followed by a third one, this time in the adjacent Mohmand Agency to target an official of the Khasadar force.
A Tehreek-i-Taliban stepchild from Mohmand Agency, Jamatul Ahrar, said it did them all.
Fridays in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have had an adjunct of terror since the year 2009. But those memories had receded somewhat thanks to the military operations in the tribal areas and partial peace returning under a sphincter-like surveillance mechanism in most cities. And it is this relative sense of safety that officials think the militants wanted to strip. “We believe that the attempt was to show they can still strike at will,” a security official investigating the incidents said. Mercifully, the men with guns on the right side of the battle have long been ready. A major catastrophe was averted.
The church record of Christian Colony shows that there are 122 people in the parish. Senator Brig (retd) John Kenneth Williams of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf tried to console the families. “After the bombers entered the premises, everybody gathered within the church,” he said. Samuel, who was shot dead near the main gate, had been on his way to work that morning since he had to go as far as Hayatabad to the Peshawar Development Authority, William explained.
Samual was the only the casualty in Warsak because the attackers were confined to a building that was under construction, while three of the bombers blew themselves up inside the building. Another bomber ran into a house but its residents had managed to escape before he pressed the button.
Investigators have rounded up three suspected facilitators. The interior ministry has stated that forensic evidence tells them none of the attackers appear to be Pakistanis. An Army Public School is located just across the road opposite the colony in the jurisdiction of the Warsak Garrison, which officials believe was the main target.
One theory is that the attackers had planned to go after three different districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that day. This theory is based on the interrogation of two militants arrested in Charsadda the night before as they were travelling from Mohmand Agency. While the suicide bomber managed to detonate his explosive vest near the entrance of the district courts, constable Junaid Khan managed to stop him despite being injured by the bomber who hurled a hand grenade at him. “It could have been deadlier,” District Police Officer Faisal Shahzad said, “had the bomber managed to enter the bar room. It would have been a bloodbath.”
The roof of the veranda of the courts is still red. Thirteen people were given funerals, and over 54 others had to be treated. They include four lawyers and three policemen. There has been a boycott of all courts in the aftermath, with the judiciary now demanding more security and added guarantees that there will be no repeats. Everyone remembers Quetta.
But after Balochistan, the security of courts throughout the country had already been doubled. In Mardan, there were three layers of security with permanent pickets inside the courts. In background meetings, officials say that they believe that the heightened security for the judiciary was provided after threats were made in the shape of letters. In Peshawar alone there are 105 policemen deployed at the judicial complex, including an inspector and two sub-inspectors in and around it, officials say.
“To instill a sense of fear, all the elements of the state responsible for maintaining law and order are being targeted,” a senior police official said. His point been enforced by the fact that a police mobile van was targeted just two days later in the jurisdiction of the very same police station as Christian Colony, killing a policeman and injuring two others, including a 10-year-old child.
While the security apparatus imposes itself on the daily life of the residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the presence of such a mechanism has itself had an overpowering effect of insecurity. “We were lucky this time,” says Farooq, a resident of the Christian Colony. “But we did not expect to get out alive until the very last moment.”
Iftikhar Firdous is a senior correspondent for The Express Tribune in Peshawar @IftikharFirdous
As long-limbed men in khaki contained the attackers at the colony on Warsak Road in Peshawar, a suicide bomber was busy blowing himself up at the district courts in Mardan. Both assaults were followed by a third one, this time in the adjacent Mohmand Agency to target an official of the Khasadar force.
A Tehreek-i-Taliban stepchild from Mohmand Agency, Jamatul Ahrar, said it did them all.
Fridays in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have had an adjunct of terror since the year 2009. But those memories had receded somewhat thanks to the military operations in the tribal areas and partial peace returning under a sphincter-like surveillance mechanism in most cities. And it is this relative sense of safety that officials think the militants wanted to strip. “We believe that the attempt was to show they can still strike at will,” a security official investigating the incidents said. Mercifully, the men with guns on the right side of the battle have long been ready. A major catastrophe was averted.
The church record of Christian Colony shows that there are 122 people in the parish. Senator Brig (retd) John Kenneth Williams of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf tried to console the families. “After the bombers entered the premises, everybody gathered within the church,” he said. Samuel, who was shot dead near the main gate, had been on his way to work that morning since he had to go as far as Hayatabad to the Peshawar Development Authority, William explained.
Samual was the only the casualty in Warsak because the attackers were confined to a building that was under construction, while three of the bombers blew themselves up inside the building. Another bomber ran into a house but its residents had managed to escape before he pressed the button.
Investigators have rounded up three suspected facilitators. The interior ministry has stated that forensic evidence tells them none of the attackers appear to be Pakistanis. An Army Public School is located just across the road opposite the colony in the jurisdiction of the Warsak Garrison, which officials believe was the main target.
One theory is that the attackers had planned to go after three different districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that day. This theory is based on the interrogation of two militants arrested in Charsadda the night before as they were travelling from Mohmand Agency. While the suicide bomber managed to detonate his explosive vest near the entrance of the district courts, constable Junaid Khan managed to stop him despite being injured by the bomber who hurled a hand grenade at him. “It could have been deadlier,” District Police Officer Faisal Shahzad said, “had the bomber managed to enter the bar room. It would have been a bloodbath.”
The roof of the veranda of the courts is still red. Thirteen people were given funerals, and over 54 others had to be treated. They include four lawyers and three policemen. There has been a boycott of all courts in the aftermath, with the judiciary now demanding more security and added guarantees that there will be no repeats. Everyone remembers Quetta.
But after Balochistan, the security of courts throughout the country had already been doubled. In Mardan, there were three layers of security with permanent pickets inside the courts. In background meetings, officials say that they believe that the heightened security for the judiciary was provided after threats were made in the shape of letters. In Peshawar alone there are 105 policemen deployed at the judicial complex, including an inspector and two sub-inspectors in and around it, officials say.
“To instill a sense of fear, all the elements of the state responsible for maintaining law and order are being targeted,” a senior police official said. His point been enforced by the fact that a police mobile van was targeted just two days later in the jurisdiction of the very same police station as Christian Colony, killing a policeman and injuring two others, including a 10-year-old child.
While the security apparatus imposes itself on the daily life of the residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the presence of such a mechanism has itself had an overpowering effect of insecurity. “We were lucky this time,” says Farooq, a resident of the Christian Colony. “But we did not expect to get out alive until the very last moment.”
Iftikhar Firdous is a senior correspondent for The Express Tribune in Peshawar @IftikharFirdous