Lack of CCTV recording may hinder Peshawar attack probe

Despite being in working condition, CCTV cameras could not capture the attack due to lack of 'computer hard drive'

Despite being in perfect working condition, the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras could not capture the terrorist attack on Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) that killed at least nine people in Peshawar on Friday.

ATI Vice-Principal Kamal Khattak on Sunday cited absence of hard drive in a computer attached to the CCTV system as the reason behind no camera footage of the deadly attack, Express News reported.

He said all surveillance cameras were in perfect working condition but the Friday’s attack could not be captured due to absence of hard drive that stores data in computer.

An investigation was launched immediately after the attack to ascertain terrorists’ linkage with their counterparts in Afghanistan as claimed by the military’s media wing.

Nine martyred as burqa-clad terrorists storm Peshawar Agriculture Training Institute

Nine people were killed and over 32 others, including a police sub-inspector and a constable, sustained injuries when armed men clad in burqas stormed into the institute early Friday morning.

Khattak said 16 surveillance cameras were installed at the premises in 2015 as the law enforcement agencies along with security forces launched a massive crackdown against terrorists and their facilitators throughout the country but specifically in Khyber-Pakhtunhwa province and adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) bordering Afghanistan in the aftermath of 2014 Army Public School in Peshawar.

However, lack of recording equipment, computer hard drive in this case, despite the passage of two years since the installation of CCTV cameras raises serious questions on competence of ATI administration and the provincial government.

ATI attack brings back horrific memories

In addition to that, CCTV cameras installed on University Road have been of no assistance as well after being damaged due to ongoing Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

Hours after the operation to clear the attack site of terrorists, Pakistan Army had said the attack was orchestrated by militants based in Afghanistan.

“The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claiming the responsibility for the attack is a proof that it was planned by terrorists based in Afghanistan,” DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor told the media.

“The terrorists were in contact with their accomplices in Afghanistan and the executors of this attack are still based there,” he said.

He said that Afghanistan will have to take stern actions against the terrorists using its soil. “Pakistan has done a lot to eliminate terrorism from the region but militants are casting an evil eye on Balochistan and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).”