Sitting ducks: 3 explosives experts killed in Peshawar blast
Driver accompanying Bomb Disposal Unit team also killed.
File photo of a bomb disposal squad official. PHOTO: ONLINE / FILE
PESHAWAR:
With no jamming devices or police protection, unarmed members of the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) were an easy target for militants.
Just days after the inspector general (IG) of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa police issued a plan to strengthen the unit, an attack on a vehicle carrying BDU personnel left three team members and a driver dead, with one passerby severely injured.
The remote-controlled roadside bomb targeted the vehicle on Monday morning as it passed Sheikh Muhammadi area at the outskirts of the city.
Assistant Inspector General BDU Shafqat Malik said the BDU team was going to inspect a motorcycle workshop in Sheikh Muhammadi, where a blast had occurred the night before, when the 5kg bomb exploded, killing three personnel on the spot and injuring another who died in hospital.
The powerful blast killed sub-inspector Abdul Haq and BDU member Imtiaz on the spot, while causing much damage to the vehicle. Head constable Aminul Haq and driver Kashif were critically injured and shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where Kashif died upon arrival. Aminul Haq succumbed to his injuries in the neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit in the evening. Schoolteacher Nazaul Haq, who was riding a bicycle when the blast occurred, was also critically injured in the attack.
The blast was timed to precision, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a tree with considerable speed, narrowing any chance of survival for the passengers. The police discovered the remote used in the attack around 15 meters away from the site of the explosion during a search operation.
This is the third incident in which BDU personnel have been killed in Peshawar. Earlier, inspector Hukam Khan and constable Lalmast were killed while trying to defuse explosive devices in Babhaber and Adezai respectively. So far, six BDU personnel have been killed. Monday’s attack has claimed the lives of senior members of the squad, leaving the original nine-member team in Peshawar with six personnel.
He said the complete ‘shaheed (martyr) package’ will be given to the families of the deceased.
The funeral prayers for the deceased personnel were offered in Malik Saad Police Lines with the guard of honour attended by the provincial governor and other police officials. The bodies were sent to their respective ancestral towns for burial.
IGP Nasir Durrani has already issued new policy guidelines to make the BDU more efficient in the face of increasing bomb blasts targeting law enforcement agencies and security forces across the province.
According to the policy, four teams of the BDU will be deployed in Peshawar and two each in the remaining 24 districts.
Special care will be exercised for the maintenance of a canine unit in the BDU, with 15 sniffer dogs already acquired. Training programs will also be initiated to increase the level of efficiency of BDU personnel.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.
With no jamming devices or police protection, unarmed members of the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) were an easy target for militants.
Just days after the inspector general (IG) of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa police issued a plan to strengthen the unit, an attack on a vehicle carrying BDU personnel left three team members and a driver dead, with one passerby severely injured.
The remote-controlled roadside bomb targeted the vehicle on Monday morning as it passed Sheikh Muhammadi area at the outskirts of the city.
Assistant Inspector General BDU Shafqat Malik said the BDU team was going to inspect a motorcycle workshop in Sheikh Muhammadi, where a blast had occurred the night before, when the 5kg bomb exploded, killing three personnel on the spot and injuring another who died in hospital.
The powerful blast killed sub-inspector Abdul Haq and BDU member Imtiaz on the spot, while causing much damage to the vehicle. Head constable Aminul Haq and driver Kashif were critically injured and shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where Kashif died upon arrival. Aminul Haq succumbed to his injuries in the neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit in the evening. Schoolteacher Nazaul Haq, who was riding a bicycle when the blast occurred, was also critically injured in the attack.
The blast was timed to precision, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a tree with considerable speed, narrowing any chance of survival for the passengers. The police discovered the remote used in the attack around 15 meters away from the site of the explosion during a search operation.
This is the third incident in which BDU personnel have been killed in Peshawar. Earlier, inspector Hukam Khan and constable Lalmast were killed while trying to defuse explosive devices in Babhaber and Adezai respectively. So far, six BDU personnel have been killed. Monday’s attack has claimed the lives of senior members of the squad, leaving the original nine-member team in Peshawar with six personnel.
He said the complete ‘shaheed (martyr) package’ will be given to the families of the deceased.
The funeral prayers for the deceased personnel were offered in Malik Saad Police Lines with the guard of honour attended by the provincial governor and other police officials. The bodies were sent to their respective ancestral towns for burial.
IGP Nasir Durrani has already issued new policy guidelines to make the BDU more efficient in the face of increasing bomb blasts targeting law enforcement agencies and security forces across the province.
According to the policy, four teams of the BDU will be deployed in Peshawar and two each in the remaining 24 districts.
Special care will be exercised for the maintenance of a canine unit in the BDU, with 15 sniffer dogs already acquired. Training programs will also be initiated to increase the level of efficiency of BDU personnel.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.