Peshawar bears the brunt: Attacks escalate despite increased security
At least three attendants of a shrine were killed and another one critically injured when suspected militants opened fire on them in the outskirts of the city early Tuesday, said the police.
The attack took place under the jurisdiction of Badabher Police Station where an unknown number of militants opened fire on the attendants of Syed Arif Shah Ghazi Baba shrine at 2 am in the Dandia area on Kohat Road, about 10 kilometres south of Peshawar.
Two Afghan nationals, Ghazi and Mohammad Ali, and a local of Badabher, Aslam, were killed, while Tehmash Khan, also from the same area, sustained injuries in the attack. All four victims were in their late fifties, said a police official.
The 67-year-old injured Tehmash sustained bullet injuries on his face and is struggling for life at the Lady Reading Hospital.
The attendants of the shrine were attacked and beaten up by unknown attackers some time back and there were also reports of threats, told Sher Khan, Tehmash’s younger brother, to The Express Tribune. Meanwhile police officials said they were not aware of any threat issued to the shrine.
Senior Superintendent of Police Operations Ijaz Ahmed said the Bara based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam was possibly behind this attack.
Shrines are increasingly coming under attack across Pakistan where, during the past two years, shrines of Rehman Baba, Baba Farid, Abdullah Shah Ghazi and the Data Darbar have been attacked.
Attack on police mobile
Three women sustained injuries when a remote controlled bomb targeting a police van went off in the limits of Duadzai Police Station on Tuesday, police said.
The blast, at around 10:30 am, targeted a police van in Naguman area on Charsadda Road in the outskirts of Peshawar, according to police officials. The women who were traveling in a car coming from the opposite direction sustained minor injuries in the blast, he added.
A bomb disposal unit said at least three kilograms of explosives, placed in a pressure cooker, were used in the attack.
FC troops targeted in Mohmand agency
Heavily armed militants attacked a paramilitary checkpoint on the Afghan border, killing two soldiers and wounding six others, officials said on Tuesday.
“More than 20 militants armed with automatic weapons attacked a Frontier Corps check post in Shatai village of Mohmand agency late Monday night, killing two soldiers and wounding six others,” a local official Shakirullah said.
FC spokesman Major Fazalur Rehman confirmed the attack and said the damage was still being assessed.
With additional input from AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2010.
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