Targeting infrastructure: 7 killed as militants attack powerhouse near Peshawar

4 PESCO employees kidnapped; grid station destroyed.

PESHAWAR:

At least seven people, including Peshawar Electric Supply Corporation (Pesco) employees and police officials, were killed when dozens of heavily-armed militants attacked a grid station on the outskirts of Peshawar early Tuesday morning.

The militants launched an attack on the Sheikh Muhammadi Grid Station in Badabher around 1:30 am. According to AFP, there were about 50 militants involved in the attack.

A policeman and a guard were killed on the spot, while nine people were held hostage and kidnapped by the
militants. Five of them were later found dead close to the site of the attack, while four Pesco employees are still missing.

The militants first fired rockets at one of the stations’ boundary walls to create an entrance. Once they were inside, they planted 14 explosive devices and took 11 people
hostage. Thirteen of the 14 bombs exploded, completely destroying the control room, transformers and at least a dozen vehicles. The entire grid caught fire after the explosions, and it took the fire brigade three hours to bring it under control. One of the devices failed to explode and was defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS).

Talking to The Express Tribune an official of the Badabher police said that the entire grid was completely destroyed and added that an FIR was yet to be registered. “Four Pesco officers have been kidnapped and shifted to an unknown location while seven others, including three policemen, have been killed,” he said.

The Badabher police initially mistook the series of powerful blasts for rocket attacks and reached the spot at least 30 minutes later. However, upon discovering the breached boundary wall, they realised the militants had managed to enter the premises.

The police, along with the volunteers of the local Aman Lashkar, found a community police constable, Khalid Saeed, and a guard, Meraj Khan, dead inside the station and the other nine people missing.

On Tuesday morning, five of the kidnapped victims – including constable Muhammad Fayaz, community police constable Muhammad Yasin and three security guards Rafiq Khan, Muhammad Zahir and Muhammad Sher – were found dead barely 500 metres away from the site of the attack. Their hands had been tied behind their backs and all of them had been shot.

Four people – SDO Fahim Khan, SPO Shoaib Rabbani, SOS Fasail Bari and SSO Zesheen Khan – are still missing.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) said four of its staff and three policemen were killed.

“One Pesco employee and one policeman were killed on the spot. The militants then kidnapped seven PESCO employees and three policemen. Later, we found the bodies of three PESCO officials and two policemen,” said Shaukat Afzal.

“Four power house employees and one policeman are still missing.”

The attack shut down electricity for five hours, affecting around 100,000 people in surrounding areas, the spokesman said. “We later restored electricity in those areas through alternate sources,” Afzal said.

Sheikh Muhammadi Grid Station has repeatedly come under rockets attacks in the past. Yet, no arrangements were made to provide the station special security.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2013.