Inquiry ordered into gunfire near Badhaber base

Firing near the base was celebratory from a marriage ceremony taking place nearby

PESHAWAR: The city police chief has ordered an inquiry into a gunfire incident near the boundary of the heavily-guarded Pakistan Air Force base in Badhaber area of the city which had caused an alarm on the base late on Saturday night.

An official at the local police station told The Express Tribune that late on Saturday night, residents had reported intense gunfire near the airbase.

It also raised alarms on the base, fearing that it was under attack once again.

Local police worked to locate the source of the gunfire and discovered that it was aerial firing at a nearby, late-night marriage ceremony.

A search operation was also carried out around the base to make sure there were no miscreants.

“An inquiry has been ordered into the incident to determine the real causes of the intense firing and a committee has been formed in this regard,” the official said, adding that the inquiry committee had been formed on the directions of Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Qazi Jamil.

He added that rumours of attack at the airbase or an exchange of fire were false since some guards inside the base had also fired into the air as a precautionary measure.

The gunfire evoked memories of the September 2015 pre-dawn attack on the base which had left 29 people dead. Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2018.