Militants attacked the Sheikh Muhammadi grid station on the outskirt of Peshawar. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/ EXPRESS
Out of the nine people kidnapped, the militants killed three policemen and two security guards on Tuesday while the four others, who were officers at the grid station, remained in their custody. The four officers were SDO Fahim Khan, STO Shoaib Rabbani, SOS Faisal Bari and SSO Zeeshan.
The militants fired at least 15 rockets at the grid station from the Sheikh Muhammadi village. They entered the building, held the staff and police guards hostage and planted several remote-controlled bombs inside the grid station.
The attack damaged the grid station, resulting in disruption of power supply to several parts of the city and areas in the tribal belt.
Due to the powerful explosion, fire erupted inside the grid station engulfing the machinery and transformers. The control room of the grid was completely destroyed.
“I could see the towers and transformers on fire and we have found two bodies so far but it is a vast area and due to darkness we are facing difficulty in searching for dead and injured,” an activist of the Masho Gagar Aman Lashker Mukamal Shah said while talking to The Express Tribune.
He further said that militants fired multiple rockets at the grid from a distance first and then entered it.
The fire fighters reached the area and tried to control the fire but their efforts went in vain.
Police started a search operation around the grid but the militants had escaped by then, an official of the Badabher police station told The Express Tribune. He further said that local people rushed to the site and helped police in the rescue operation.
“Few people are still missing and we are looking for them,” the official said. Boundary wall of the grid station also collapsed and the barbed wires had been found cut, he further added.
“We have found two caps of policemen but they are not there which means that either they have escaped or have been kidnapped by the militants,” he said.
Some of the bombs did not explode and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was called in to defuse them.
COMMENTS (18)
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@Maria: Please provide us some credible references to support your "foreign masters" comments!!! Better yet tell us who these so called "foreign masters" are since you appear to know!
@Enough...!: I hate to say this is downward spiral. Things will get worst as time goes. These monstors were created defeat India but they are defeating Pakistan.
@US CENTCOM: 'Their needs to be coordinated effort to eliminate them completely'! Fully agree with your comment. In fact US about an year back had offered Pakistan coordinated or joint operations against both Talibans on both sides of border which was not accepted by it with the results that Pakistan suffered heavy causalities both civilians and military. Time is still ripe to mount joint operations before foreign forces pull out from Afghanistan as there is a distinct possibility of both Talibans combining to enforce sharia in Pakistan which is a frightening scenario which security forces of Pakistan would find it extremely difficult to handle resulting in an anarchy in the whole country.
This is anti humanity and must be condenmed.
Pakistan is already reeling with power shortage, where people have to endure 18 hours power blackouts! To make matters worse, the terrorists are attempting to add to their woes. These enemies of state are out to destroy Pakistan any way they can. Our heart goes out to the families of the eight killed by the ruthless attackers. We hope that the authorities will be able to rescue the officers who have been kidnapped from the power station. Pakistan has lost over 49,000of its citizens at the hands of the brutal terrorists. They are the enemies of all humanity. Their needs to be a coordinated effort to eliminate them completely! We hope to assist each other for the sake of negating the threat that’s preventing us from achieving our peace objectives.
Abdul Quddus
@MangoMango: These anti state criminals don't want to see development in Pakistan but want to cause more misery to Pakistani citizens to please their foreign masters. Pakistani people won't let them succeed which is why they attack unarmed places like the cowards they are. I am glad that the local people hate the foreign funded militants who enter from bases in Afghanistan. It's time to seal the border more effectively to stop incursions from these cowards.
corp commander shoud resign ????
@Enough...!: Next major target will be gas pipe line from Iran to Pakistan as and when completed.
Engineers working on an electrical load automation project were working there and crores of rupees of new equipment has been destroyed according my info. The personnel were lucky to not be at the location at the time. These savages destroy anything positive towards human or infrastructure development.
@Zaid Hamid: They're still on their holiday break from protesting the NATO supply route re-opening.
@Waqas: Already Afghanistan even worst then Afghanistan and any country in the world.Fact is Pakistan become joke in the world and everyday makes headlines in news locally and internationally.Everything seems out of control and no rule of law in any part of the country and enemies created militants can easily target any place in the country.Afghanistan and tribal areas are safe heavens for anti state enemies.
back to the golden age when there was no electricity first they killed school teachers and health workers and now they are bombing power plants, is this really a move towards stone age what's next blowing up of bridges and hospitals
Where are the security agencies of Pakistan? Are we heading towards next Afghanistan.
ET seven people got killed and its not a headline on the main page
Where is Difa-e-Council Pakistan now?
Have they gone haywire or feeling too much winters?