TERRORISTS struck Mardan and Peshawar on Friday, killing 14 people and injuring 49 others in a day that could have ended with a higher number of deaths had four of the suicide bombers not been killed before they could set off their explosives.

Most casualties — 13 deaths and 44 injuries — were reported at a judicial complex in Mardan where a suicide bomber blew himself up. However, a disaster was averted in Peshawar where a minority community escaped a suicide attack.

The attacks came just a day after the military announced major success in Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

Lives saved as four attackers were killed at Peshawar’s Christian colony

Mardan Regional Police Officer Ijaz Khan said that 11 people had been killed and 44 others injured, but rescue officials and medics at two major hospitals in the city confirmed 13 deaths.

Among the dead were five lawyers and two police personnel, while three lawyers and as many policemen were among the injured.

Mardan District Police Officer Faisal Shehzad told reporters at the scene of the attack that a suicide bomber lobbed a hand-grenade at police personnel at the main entrance of Mardan courts and opened fire before detonating his suicide vest in the veranda next to the gate.

He said that about 8kg of explosives were packed in the vest.

Mardan District Bar Association president Amir Hussain said that the death toll would have been higher had the bomber reached the complex where lawyers gathered.

Mr Hussain said since the bomber was stopped a few metres inside the main gate, he was not able to make it to the sitting area.

The dead lawyers were identified as Said Akbar, Ilyas Sani, Imran, Yousaf Ali Shah and Arshid Khan while the policemen were Junaid Khan and Ishtiaq.

A police official lamented that CCTV cameras installed at the court complex were out of order at the time of the incident.

The district administration declared emergency at both major hospitals in the city, cancelling holidays of the doctors and medics.

Dr Javed Iqbal at the Mardan Medical Complex said that 22 people had been brought to the facility, adding that four died while nine were discharged after treatment and the rest were hospitalised.

Officials said that eight of the injured died at the DHQ hospital and one at a hospital in Peshawar.

Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, the chief justice of Peshawar High Court and KP police chief Nasir Khan Durrani visited the hospitals and inquired about the health of the injured.

Attack foiled

In Peshawar, a Christian worker was killed and five others, including security per­­­sonnel and private guards, were wounded when four suicide bombers stormed a Christian colony near the city.

There were reports of a Levies man’s death, but it could not be confirmed till late in night.

The area where the attack took place abuts on Mohmand and Khyber tribal regions and is situated near a military garrison some 20km north of the provincial capital. There are about 25 houses in the colony, inhibited by the Christian employees working at the nearby Warsak Dam.

According to an ISPR statement, four suicide bombers carrying arms and ammunition entered the Warsak Christian Colony after hitting a security guard at around 5:50am.

A security official said that had the guards posted at the gate not resisted the bombers to allow paramilitary forces from the nearby garrison to come to their aid in time, there would have been several civilian casualties.

“Hats off to the security guards,” the official said, requesting anonymity. “They held them [attackers] back from carrying out the carnage.”

More than 100 people live in the colony, which sits close to the hydel-power generating Warsak Dam.

Investigators believe that the suicide bombers, most likely affiliated with Jamaatul Ahrar — an offshoot of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — came from Mohmand tribal region.

Jamaatul Ahrar, led by Abdul Wali alias Omar Khalid Khurasani, was designated a global terrorist organisation by the US State Department last month.

The group claimed responsibility for both attacks.

SSP operation Peshawar Abbas Majeed Marwat told Dawn that the attackers were first engaged by the colony guards and after that security forces and police personnel joined the fight.

He said that the terrorists carried AK-47 rifles and Russian grenades besides wearing suicide jackets.

Intelligence, alert

Mr Marwat said there was no prior intelligence about the attack.

However, an official at the KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department told Dawn that on Feb 11, 2016 an intelligence alert about a possible militant attack on the Warsak Dam had been issued.

Besides, he added, an Aug 28 alert had informed that a group of militants had entered Peshawar via Warsak Road and was tasked to conduct target killings in the city.

A resident of Christian Colony told Dawn that the attackers entered the residential compound at around 5:15am.

He said the attackers shot dead Samuel Masih, who was on his way to work, outside the main gate. The attackers entered the compound after an exchange of fire with three security guards deputed at the main gate.

Bomb Disposal Squad head Shafqat Malik said that one of the bombers blew himself up at the entrance, while another exploded his vest inside the colony. The remaining two, he added, were cornered in an under-construction house by security forces where they exploded their vests.

The body of an attacker was intact, he said. Three of the bombers appeared to be in their twenties, while the fourth one seemed in his teens.

A senior official said that apparently the terrorists made to the area after crossing the Michini Bridge, which links the provincial capital to Mohmand Agency.

He said they were trying to know when the attackers entered the city, as the bridge remained closed at night.

He said they were also looking into the possibility whether the militants spent a night in nearby areas and had a support network.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2016