Terrorism bid foiled in Kohat: Over a ton of explosives seized

Incident occurred on Kohat-Bannu road when police stopped a vehicle for a routine check.

KOHAT:

Police in Kohat seized more than 1,000 kilogrammes of explosives from a truck while two suspected militants were also taken into custody, police officials said.

The incident took place on the Kohat-Bannu road when police personnel stopped a vehicle for a routine spot check.

DPO Dilawar Khan Bangash said around 1,000 kilogrammes of dynamite, two Kalashnikovs and several bullets were recovered from the vehicle. Two suspects, Imran from Charsadda and Akseer Ali from the Orakzai Agency were arrested. Both suspects are currently being interrogated.

Officials from the bomb disposal squad confirmed that the explosives were of “very high quality” and capable of wreaking massive destruction. The seized material, said to be dynamite, is usually used in making remote-control devices, toy-bombs and suicide-jackets, the official said.

According to initial investigations, suspects revealed that the explosives were been smuggled from Nowshera to the Orakzai Agency. Sources said that the arrested men initially said they were “security officials” and were in possession of legal documents for transferring the explosives.

Kohat city has repeatedly been targeted by terrorists and already suffered three powerful blasts this year alone, resulting in the deaths of at least 80 people.

A suicide attack on the first of Muharram in the Tirah Bazar area of Kohat killed 18 people when the attacker targeted an Orakzai-bound vehicle.

Southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been termed ‘highly sensitive’ during the duration of Muharram. Areas of Kohat and Hangu have a history of sectarian violence.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2010.