2 alleged terrorists, 9 suspects arrested; explosives recovered

Salman Yousafzai
PESHAWAR: Following Friday’s terrorists attack investigation on Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) on University Road, law enforcement agencies claimed to have arrested nine suspects during search operation in Peshawar’s outskirts on Saturday.
Three assailants dressed in burqas and equipped with automatic weapons, hand grenade and suicide jackets attacked the ATI hostel situated near Peshawar’s University Road on Friday morning, killing nine people and injuring 34 others. The dead include six students, a security guard, and two civilians.
The terrorists were killed in a joint operation carried out by the Pakistan Army and local police after two hours operation.
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was headquartered of Pakistani spy agencies.
SSP Operation Sajjad Khan said the terrorists, who were wearing burqas, entered the premises in an auto rickshaw on Friday around 8:35 am. They opened fire at security near the gates, killing one guard and injuring another before making their way inside and targeting the student accommodation.
The police and rescue teams reached to spot soon after the attack and cops cordoned off the premises and carried out an operation to neutralise the terrorists and rescue students and injured, he added.
While the police engaged the terrorists, army troops were called in.
An AIT’s student said there are usually 400 students on campus but on Friday, there were at least 150 students at the university due to the holiday. He added that they were sleeping at the hostel when heard gun firing.
Injured were taken to Hayatabad Medical Complex and the Khyber Teaching Hospital and received a total of nine bodies and 38 injured, including some in critical condition.
Briefing the media after the operation at the Central Police Office, along with Health Minister Shahram Taraki, KP Police Chief Salhud Din Mehsud said the police force reached the site within four minutes owing to coordinated efforts.
“We received the call at 8:35 am and the forces were inside the university within four to five minutes,” he said.
The provincial police chief said a huge cache of weapons and explosives was recovered during the operation including three suicide vests which the terrorists could not detonate.
“Around 20 hand grenades, AK-47 assault rifles and IEDs (home-made bombs) were also recovered in the operation,” he said. “One of the bombers had managed to trigger his vest.”
Those who were killed in the attack were identified as Abdul Majeed, Siddiqur Rehman, Ameen Jan, Bilal Ahmed, Qasim Ali Shah, and Muhammad Bilal.
Seven students, four security officials, two watchmen and a report of private TV channel Reham Yousafzai were among the injured, according to Rescue 1122.
The DG ISPR said the attackers were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan throughout the assault; a statement echoed by the KP police chief.
“One of the attackers was around 35 years old while the rest were under 25,” the investigator said.
Counter Terrorism Department registered a case against unknown terrorists under terrorism acts. According to report, nine people were killed and 28 injured in terrorist attack on ATI.
According to the Global Terrorism Database maintained by researchers at the University of Maryland, there were 867 attacks on educational institutions in Pakistan from 2007 to 2015, resulting in 392 deaths and 724 injuries.
It was third militants attack on the educational institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, gunmen killed at least 20 people last year in an attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda.
Over hundred children were killed in a militant attack on Army Public School on December 16, 2014.
ATI’s attack comes a week after Additional Inspector General (AIG) Ashraf Noor was martyred in a suicide blast in the city’s Hayatabad area.