Follow-up September 2013: One year on, over 160 deaths remain unsolved

PESHAWAR:

Two catastrophic Sundays and one equally horrific Friday gave September 2013 the distinction of being one of the bloodiest months the city has seen in recent memory. Over 160 people died in blasts which rocked All Saints Church at Kohati Gate on September 22, destroyed a Civil Secretariat bus on September 27 and ripped into Qissa Khwani Bazaar on September 29.

A year on, families continue to collect their scattered lives in an attempt to move on but without any closure from the police department. Little has been made known about investigation, follow-ups or arrests, let alone much-needed convictions.

All Saints Church

A controversy in the twin blasts’ investigation brewed soon after the attack. The bomb disposal unit (BDU) had claimed two attackers entered the church and then blew themselves up.



In the ensuing crime scene sweep, only one skull was actually found. A single 9mm pistol said to be the attacker’s was also found, badly damaged.

A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team which visited the site of the blasts two days later, however, was under the impression there was one attacker armed with a 9mm and hand grenades. The FIA had said the sole attacker fired at the police and then threw a grenade at the worshippers, who had gathered outside the main hall of the church for food, to create a diversion before he detonated his suicide vest.

In addition, contrary to media reports, there were no close circuit cameras at the church. The attackers were able to enter the church via the main gate when it was opened by one of the two police guards deployed there.

“One police guard who was killed was with the worshippers making a beeline to get the rice and qorma that was being handed out,” said a police official who was then deployed at Kabuli station. He told The Express Tribune, “Meanwhile, the other police guard had opened the main gate to meet the police mobile outside.” That was the moment when the attackers entered the church and fired at the policeman inside, killing him on the spot.

“The BDU said there were two attackers but we found only one skull and one pistol from the blast site,” added the policeman.

“To a degree, I think the question of one or two suicide bombers is irrelevant,” he said. “The police should have investigated where the attacker came from; these militants have safe houses inside the city where the attacker(s) was provided a night’s stay before he was provided a suicide jacket.”

The official added, “Groups based inside the city act as facilitators—they should have been busted.” In this regard, the investigation had not progressed well, said the policeman.

The BDU version

The BDU has remained of the opinion since the FIA investigation team visited the site after two days, it had been contaminated. The BDU itself had inspected the church premises soon after the attack, even as the dead and injured were being removed. At least 105 victims had died in the church attack.

“The report was prepared by the late Fazale Haq who was an experienced man,” a BDU official told The Express Tribune. “Yes the enraged survivors did not allow the BDU to inspect the site for more than 10 minutes and forced them to leave, but it was inspected by BDU chief Shafaqat Malik as well.”

Both concluded there were two attackers,” he said. “We found two different patterns created by the explosion of two suicide jackets,” he added.

SSP Investigation Masoodur Rehman Khalil told The Express Tribune that the impression, there was no progress in the church blasts investigation was without foundation.

“The attacker or suicide bomber waited in a hotel before coming to the church and we even identified the group behind this attack despite the fact that the TTP disowned the suicide attack,” said Khalil.

Civil Secretariat Bus, Charsadda Road

As in the other two blasts in the month of September 2013, police investigators largely remained clueless in this case too. At least 19 people had died in this attack.

The driver and his helper were arrested on suspicion and then released. A previous attack on a Secretariat bus had led the police to convince the Civil Secretariat to abandon the plan of providing transport to the employees. This was to prevent future attacks.

However, the service was attacked and even though its purpose was to facilitate government officials, most of the passengers on it were civilians.

Qissa Khwani

A massive car bomb tore through the crowded bazaar around 11:10am that Sunday morning, killing at least 42 people.

On October 29, SSP Najeebur Rehman had said the police had arrested the group responsible for the blast, without stating its identity. They had said there were clues that the militants responsible had links to foreign intelligence agencies.

Not much was made known about the fate of the accused in terms of their incarceration or conviction. It was claimed at least one of the men stayed in a local hotel before the blast to scout the market for several days after which the plan for the terrorist act was strategised.

Information surfaced that the car used in the blast was non-customs paid as the chasis and engine numbers were sent to the excise department and no data about the car was on the records there. Not much came out of this lead either.

“What is the definition of this word success? If you call identifying the group a success then in most cases, groups are identified on the basis of verbal information and insider reports,” said an official of the local police station. “But you cannot prove it in court without proof and as far as the masterminds and facilitators are concerned, no case is ever successful and those people are all based in Fata, out of the reach of law,” he added.

Fata is not outside the jurisdiction of Pakistan, said the policeman, “But it is a no-go area for the police.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2014.