Terrorism-related Incidents in Peshawar - 2009

Date

Incident

January 1

Unidentified men blew up a Police check-post near Jabba Mosque in the Mathra Police station precincts of Peshawar, killing constable Asif Khan. Senior Police official Jamilur Rehman said the attack could be a reaction to the ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency.

January 4

A senior Taliban leader was arrested from Peshawar. Formerly a leader of Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf’s Ittehad-e-Islami group in Afghanistan, Ustad Yasir joined the Taliban in 2001 after Sayyaf announced support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He was arrested from the NWFP in 2005 and released from Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi prison in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo.

January 9

Police arrested three alleged would-be suicide bombers and six other suspects from various parts of the city after a tip-off about the plot to disrupt the processions on the Muharram day. Police received information that three would-be suicide bombers, Qari, Asad and Amjad, had been tasked to carry out bombings during the Ashura processions. Police subsequently arrested the three would-be suicide bombers as well as six other suspects from different urban parts of the provincial capital.

January 13

Militants launched attacks on parking bays of two terminals in the wee hours, firing six rockets. "Militants attacked the Faisal Terminal and the Khyber Ittifaq Terminal at midnight with rockets from the nearby fields. Four containers were gutted in the Khyber Terminal and two in the Faisal Terminal," a Police official told The News. Two of the containers were empty while the rest were filled with different items being trans-shipped for the allied forces in Afghanistan. Police rushed to the spot, the unnamed official said, and engaged the attackers. Firing from both sides continued for quite some time after which the attackers fled.

January 17

In the first incident of its kind in Peshawar, religious scholar Pir Hafiz Rafeeullah, who was kidnapped on January 16, was reportedly slaughtered and his decapitated body was found in the Matani area of the capital on the morning of January 17.

January 18

A faith-healing centre on the Circular Road was damaged when an explosives device went off late on January 18. However, no loss of life was reported.

January 20

Four Policemen and four civilians were injured when a Police patrol van was hit by a roadside bomb on Ring Road in the Hazarkhwani area of Peshawar. The blast took place at about 8:03am (PST) near a security check-post when Pandu Police Station officials were patrolling the Ring Road. "Almost 1kg explosives, planted in a gas pipeline, exploded when the police patrol vehicle was passing through the spot," said Superintendent of Police (City Circle), Mohammad Ashraf.

January 30

The officials of Peshawar's Yakatoot Police station arrested two suspected terrorists from the Ring Road area.

January 31

The Peshawar city Police arrested 15 people suspected of having links with the Taliban, during a crackdown in the Mathra Police station precincts. One of those arrested was a Taliban commander, suspected of training suicide bombers.

February 4

Nine members of the Bara-based Lashkar-e-Islam militant group were killed in an encounter with the Police and the Qaumi Lashkar (militia) comprising armed villagers when they allegedly attempted to kidnap Faheem, the chief official of Bazidkhel union council, near Peshawar. Three Policemen sustained injuries in the first incident of its kind in which the Police and villagers jointly countered the militants operating in Peshawar.

February 11

Alamzeb Khan, a Member of Provincial Assembly from the ruling Awami National Party (ANP), was killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in Momin Town in Peshawar. The blast, which also injured seven others, including the driver, the gunman and personal assistant of the legislator, occurred on the day the newly-appointed special US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, was paying a visit to the city. Locals said Khan was on his way to attend a function in the city when his car was hit by a huge explosion at around 11:20 am on the main road of the Momin Town, close to his residence. "It was triggered through a remote control," Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told journalists. Alamzeb Khan was elected a member of the NWFP Assembly from the PF-1 in the general elections in 2008.

February 17

Five people were killed and 17 injured in a car bomb blast outside the Hujra (male guest house) of the union council chief in Bazidkhel village of Peshawar. Faheemur Rahman, the union council chief of Bazidkhel, eight kilometres south of Peshawar on Kohat Road, alleged that the Mangal Bagh-led LI was involved in this "cheap act" of terrorism. Eyewitnesses said the blast occurred in a car parked on a street near the Hujra of Rahman. The blast also destroyed two cars and damaged six buildings.

February 18

Police recovered 100 kilograms of explosive material from a vehicle. Police Sources said a suspicious vehicle that was chasing the vehicle of the Provincial Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah was intercepted and even as occupants of the van fled abandoning their vehicle, Police recovered more than 100kg of explosive material from the vehicle.

February 19

A bomb exploded at the Government Degree College in Peshawar. However, no casualties were reported. An unnamed Police official said it was a low intensity device, which was only meant to create panic. The device was planted on the building’s second floor and exploded around 12pm.

February 26

Three rockets fired from the Bara area of Khyber Agency landed in fields near the Mattani Police station in Peshawar. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property. Three rockets had landed in the Pishtakhara area of the provincial capital, without causing any damage.

March 5

Suspected Taliban militants blew an ancient shrine of a 17th century Sufi poet - Rehman Baba - in the Akhund Baba graveyard of Peshawar. A letter delivered three days before the attack to the management of the mausoleum had warned against its promotion of ‘shrine culture’. The white-marble shrine was badly damaged when explosives planted along its pillars went off at around 5:10am. There were, however, no casualties.

March 7

Eight persons, including five Policemen, two Frontier Corps personnel and a civilian, were killed in a remote-controlled car bombing at Mashugagr village in Peshawar. Some villagers also sustained minor injuries. Muhammad Wali, a villager, said the car was unlocked and the villagers had found the body of an old man in it. "The blast occurred when police officials walked towards the vehicle," he said. Security officials said about 40 kilogrammes of explosives were packed in the vehicle.

March 11

The NWFP Senior Minister and Awami National Party leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour survived an assassination attempt that left six persons, including two suspected suicide attackers, dead in Namak Mandi in the provincial capital Peshawar. Four persons, including a young girl, were wounded in the firing, grenade attack and suicide blast. "Bilour and others were coming back after opening a road project when a young man, followed by another, rushed towards him while loudly reciting Allaho Akbar. A security official pushed the attacker back after explosives around his vest did not go off despite his repeated attempts," said an eyewitness. A nearby shopkeeper said the attacker fell on the ground after which one of them lobbed a grenade at the crowd. Police, he added, also opened fire. A vendor, Tehmash, was killed while constable Himayatullah, a trader, Khalilur Rahman, and a six-year-old were injured in the incident. Even as the attackers managed to flee the Security Force personnel continued to chase them until the attackers forced their entry into the house of an auto-mechanic located around 500 meters from the earlier spot. Police besieged the house and "As the terrorists failed to find any way out, they triggered the explosives around the vest of one of them, killing the two attackers and three members of the family that owned the house," a Police official said.

March 15

Dozens of suspected Taliban militants attacked a terminal storing NATO supplies on the Ring Road, destroying at least 12 trucks and 20 containers. This is the first major attack on a NATO depot since February 2009. Police sources said several militants started firing at trucks and torching trailers vehicles parked at the terminal. Following an exchange of fire, the militants escaped. There were no casualties. Two truck drivers were injured in the attack.

March 16

Suspected Taliban militants torched 30 vehicles in an attack in Peshawar on a terminal for trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Truck drivers at the Al-Faisal Terminal said over 50 armed men entered the compound after breaking the boundary wall firing rockets and Kalashnikovs. The militants remained in the terminal for about an hour, sprinkled trucks with oil and later set them ablaze. There were reports the attackers escaped towards Bara. This was the second such attack in two days. 20 vehicles had been burnt in an attack on a terminal in the Hazarkhwani area on March 15.

March 18

Militants armed with rocket launchers and other sophisticated weapons patrolled the suburbs of Peshawar. Militants in around 12 double-cabin pickups patrolled the Ring Road and the Bara Road in the afternoon. The militants later disappeared before the Security Forces could challenge them.

March 19

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a 500kV electricity pylon in the limits of Urmur Police Station plunging several parts of Peshawar into darkness. A spokesman of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company told reporters the explosion destroyed the tower.

Unidentified men blew up a power pylon in the Mirza Kali Urmur area, suspending power supply to the adjacent areas. Police sources said the men had planted explosives under the 500KV tower. Shaukat Afzal, the Peshawar Electric Supply Company spokesman, said the assailants had blown up tower number 295.

Dozens of armed Taliban militants stormed a NATO supplies container terminal in Peshawar and torched nine vehicles and several offices. Police and locals said the terminal, located on the Ring Road in Pishtakhara Police station precincts, was attacked early in the morning, adding that the Taliban and Police exchanged heavy fire, but no casualties were reported. Police officials said there were more than 100 militants who participated in the raid. They said the Taliban also used rockets to target the Police party but failed to hit anyone. Meanwhile, the Taliban had destroyed nine vehicles parked at the terminal. The vehicles were bound for international forces in Afghanistan. "There were no casualties in the attack early Friday, but the fire destroyed nine NATO vehicles, including fire-fighting vans and 4x4 jeeps," said local Police official Fazal Wahid Khan.

Suspected Taliban militants planted a remote-controlled bomb that blew up a music shop and neighbouring stalls at Charsadda bus stand in Peshawar. "CD and music centres, as well as three other shops were destroyed when a locally-made bomb went off in front of a bus stand in Faqirabad area," local Police official Anwar Khan said. No casualties were reported as the shops were closed overnight when the bomb exploded, Police said.

Taliban militants triggered a bomb blast in the Chamkani area, outside provincial capital Peshawar, destroying six tankers supplying fuel to the NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. Around 35 tankers were parked at the incident site, when militants placed a bomb under one of the vehicles loaded with diesel, petrol and aviation fuel, Police official Asmatullah Khan told. The blast triggered a fire which spread to another five tankers, he said.

Six tankers supplying fuel to the NATO forces in Afghanistan were set ablaze and a guard sustained injuries after suspected Taliban militants opened fire on them in Peshawar. A Chamkani Police official told that five militants equipped with sophisticated weapons and rocket launchers entered the Pakistan Oil Tanker terminal at Jhagra Chowk at around 3 am and opened fire on the tankers parked there. He said the guard, Razam Khan, sustained injuries and six tankers were charred. He said at least three blasts were also heard, but the cause was not certain yet.

April 29

Suspected militants blew up about 25 shops at Adezai bazaar in the suburb of Peshawar. A Police official of the Matani Police station said unidentified miscreants had planted explosives which went off at about 1am. Many of the shops were owned by one Mohammad Kalam. However, chief of the local Union Council, Haji Asad Khan, said the shops were owned by poor people who were selling items of daily use. In the past, he said, people used to sell CDs and cassettes in different areas but after threats by the Taliban they had abandoned the business.

April 29

Police defused explosives which were planted near the main gate of the Peshawar High Court. Police officials said the explosives weighed about two kilograms and were packed in a plastic bottle. Detonator, cable and batteries were also recovered from the site.

May 4

A suicide car bomber killed four SF personnel and wounded eight persons in the outskirts of Peshawar. Police sources said the attacker rammed his car into a vehicle carrying SFs.

May 5

Seven people, including two children and a Frontier Corps soldier, were killed and 48 others sustained injuries an explosives-laden car rammed into a pick-up near a check-post on the Bara road near Peshawar. The Bara Qadeem check-post was manned by the Police and Frontier Constabulary. Eyewitnesses said the car on a suicide mission was following a Frontier Corps pick-up from Bara and hit it when it slowed down near the check-post. The pick-up was carrying students to a school in Peshawar. According to bomb disposal personnel, the explosives weighed about 85 kilograms. The blast also reportedly caused a deep crater in the middle of the road and damaged dozens of houses and shops.

May 9

Five suspected terrorists were killed and a Policeman injured during an encounter at Baghbanan Road. According to a statement, Police arrested three suspected terrorists in the limits of Chamkani Police Station during a routine search. It said four more suspected terrorists ambushed the Police when the suspects were being shifted to a Police post. They killed the three suspects in Police custody, while two of the attackers were also killed in the encounter, the statement added. Three of the dead have been identified as Arab Shah, Abdul Akbar and Musarrat Shah, all residents of Afghanistan.

May 9

Unidentified men fired three rockets at the Peshawar International Airport from undisclosed locations, but no casualties were reported.

Yahya Mustafa Kamran alias Hijrat, an Afghan national and Taliban commander based in the Jamrud sub-division of Khyber Agency, was killed along with four other militants in an encounter with the SF personnel near Peshawar, about three days ago. He had been arrested three months ago by Pakistani security agencies for leading a series of attacks on NATO supplies. He was associated with the Baitullah Mehsud-led TTP and was one of his loyal commanders. Baitullah had appointed him commander for the strategic Peshawar-Torkham Road, and tasked him to disrupt and destroy the NATO supply line to neighbouring Afghanistan.

Eight trailers were torched when militants attacked two parking lots, which were once used for transporting supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan, while two check-posts were also attacked with missiles. Police officials said around 40 people attacked the Khatoot-e-Aman Terminal and the Javed Bilal Terminal on the Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Pishtakhara Police station at around 3:45 am. A source said the attackers first fired a rocket at the parked vehicles and later set ablaze eight of them. The attackers also assaulted the watchmen and drivers and deprived them of their cash and valuables. An encounter took place between the miscreants and Police when contingents rushed to the area. The assailants, however, managed to escape from the incident site.

11 people, including two women and two children, were killed and another 31 injured when a powerful car bomb ripped through a congested locality in Peshawar. Superintendent of Police (City) Ijaz Abid said the explosion was caused by a timed bomb in a car parked in the Kashkal area of the city. He said the apparent target of the blast was a nearby internet café. The bomb went off at around 2:20pm and destroyed 17 cars and around a dozen shops. Casualties from a special children's school bus passing the area and caught in the explosion could not be confirmed.

Six people, including two women and two children, sustained minor injuries when a low-intensity explosive device went off in a busy market in Peshawar.

May 19

Suspected militants blew up a police post in the suburbs of Peshawar. An official of the Mathra Police said explosives had been planted at the Police post located at Bacha Garhi, which went off at about 4am, destroying the structure. He said the Police post had been abandoned two months ago due to lack of personnel.

May 22

A powerful car bomb exploded near the Tasveer Mahal Cinema hall in the busy Kabuli Chowk area, killing at least 10 people and injuring over 65 others. Besides destroying the front elevation of the Tasveer Mahal Cinema, the powerful explosion also damaged another nearby movie hall, dozens of music centres and shops as well as several vehicles. The blast also disconnected power supply to the area hampering rescue efforts. Windowpanes of buildings in the adjoining Qissa Khwani, Khyber Bazaar, Mohallah Jhangi, Shoba Bazaar and Namakmandi areas were damaged due to the impact of the explosion.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a CD shop and a Police post in Peshawar, but there were no casualties. A Police official told that explosives planted in the CD shop went off around 3am and slightly damaged the shop. Suspected militants also targeted a Police check-post on the Pajjagi Road. There were, however, no casualties.

Terrorists attacked Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, and its environs as eight people were killed and over 68 sustained injuries. Two separate blasts took place in the Qissa Khwani bazaar while three Policemen were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack on a Police vehicle at the Sra Khawra security post on the Kohat road. Two suspected militants were killed and two others arrested in an encounter between the Police and alleged terrorists who had taken shelter in a building located behind Qissa Khwani bazaar soon after the two blasts.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls' high school in the Badabher Police precincts. A Police official at the Badabher Police Station told that the suspects had planted explosives at the school and that the blast had severely damaged the building. A Bomb Disposal Squad official said militants had planted five bombs weighing around four to five kilograms each and also fired a rocket at the building. Sulimankhel Nazim Akmal Khan told that the local Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militants could be behind the attack. He said the suspects had also blown up CD shops in the union council a few months ago.

The Taliban attacked a Security Forces' convoy, killing the TNSM deputy chief Maulana Alam and spokesman Amir Izaat while they were being transported to Peshawar, the NWFP capital. The ISPR Director General Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in Rawalpindi the Taliban attacked the convoy after it hit an improvised explosive device. He said one non-commissioned officer was also killed in the attack, and five others were wounded. He said the convoy was carrying prisoners needed for a "special investigation" by intelligence agencies. Responding to questions, he said the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad was not in custody, but confirmed that TNSM leader Maulana Wahab was currently being interrogated by the SFs.

A massive truck bomb explosion at the five-star Pearl Continental hotel 17 people and injured 60 others. The attackers entered the compound on two vehicles at about 10:30pm, firing at the security guards at the hotel gate with bullets from one and blowing up the other in the hotel parking. "It was a suicide attack," Capital City Police Officer Sefwat Ghayur told AFP. "There are two foreigners among the dead," NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said. Among those who were injured are the ruling Awami National Party's minister Zarshed Khan, Senator Nabi Bangash, UN officials, three foreigners and an airline's crew. 40 vehicles parked in the compound were destroyed and the building was seriously damaged. A Bomb Disposal Squad official told reporters at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

The TNSM Swat unit chief and two other suspects were arrested from the Hayatabad area. Iqbal Khan, who belongs to the Matta area of Swat, was the District chief of the TNSM, while the other two suspects are his relatives. They were reportedly staying in a rented house in Phase-IV of the Hayatabad locality.

A man was killed and 13 others, including nine Policemen, sustained injuries in a hand grenade-cum-suicide attack on a Police party in the Lateefabad area on Ring Road. Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told the media that a Police party was on a routine duty on Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Faqirabad Police station when unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the Policemen, injuring one of them. Even as reinforcements were being called for, a suicide bomber came near a Police pick-up and blew himself up. The blast destroyed two Police mobiles, a rickshaw and a motorcycle. Personnel of the Bomb Disposal Squad also recovered a pressure cooker and explosive material from the nearby fields.

Two suspects were killed and six others arrested as Policemen and troops deployed at the Peshawar Corps Commander's House foiled a terrorist attack in the high security zone on Khyber Road. Citing witnesses, a television channel said two suspects riding a motorbike attempted to enter the Corps Commander's House and fired at the security officials on being stopped. According to the channel, two other gunmen, also on motorbikes, followed the first pair. Two suspects were killed in the ensuing encounter, the channel said.

Police arrested a suspected Taliban militant from a mosque in the Kissa Khawani Bazaar along with a suicide jacket, a hand grenade, two pistols, 90 rounds and two kilograms of explosives.

The Peshawar International Airport was shut down after an intelligence report warned of a terrorist attack on aircraft by a militant group based in the tribal region, officials said. The Civil Aviation Authority issued a notice to airmen to alert them of hazards en route or at a specific location in the night of June 16 and cabled all national and international carriers to stop their flights to the airport. An unnamed official said the airport would remain closed till June 18-night, but the notice implied that the move was for an indefinite period.

June 22

Taliban militants are reported to have blown up a girls’ school in Peshawar. A police official in Peshawar told that four relatively minor blasts followed one another in quick succession and completely destroyed the two-room school building.

June 24

Three Policemen, including an officer, were killed when some miscreants fired rockets and mortar shells at the Arbab Tapu check-post in the jurisdiction of Matani Police Station.

June 26

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls’ primary school on the outskirts of provincial capital Peshawar. There were, however, no casualties. An official from the Mattani Police Station said that three militants broke into Government Girls Model Primary School Ghaziabad in the Frontier Road area, tied up the guard and planted explosives on the premises. Four devices went off in quick succession, destroying the boundary wall and five of the six rooms in the building, said the official.

Police claimed to have foiled a sabotage attempt and defused three explosive devices planted in a car while one of the militants riding the vehicle blew himself up in provincial capital Peshawar. Suspected militants were reportedly riding an explosive-laden car and when signaled by the Police to stop on the Kohat road, they lobbed two hand-grenades on the Police that didn't explode. Senior Superintendent of Police Qazi Jamilur Rehman said the car with around five militants was coming from Darra Adamkhel and armed with automatic weapons they exchanged fire with the Police. "As the police encircled one of them near Mashokhel Mera, he blew himself up," he said. The others, however, managed to escape. In the car, he said, three types of explosives-manual, timer and remote-controlled devices had been planted which were defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.

Two Policemen were killed and an equal number of people sustained injuries when Taliban targeted a Police vehicle with a remote-controlled device in Peshawar. A Police official told that the militants targeted the vehicle with a roadside bomb in Chushtiabad area at around 5:45am. The Policemen were reportedly in the area to investigate a robbery attempt by the Taliban.

July 8

A suicide bomber died on the outskirts of Peshawar when explosives hidden in a mango cart went off before he could reach the intended target – possibly the NWFP Assembly speaker, according to witnesses and Police. "The bomber is the only person who died," senior Police officer Ghulam Muhammad told reporters after the incident in Malkhandher on Nasir Bagh Road. Unconfirmed reports indicated that five people had been injured.

July 9

A Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) employee was killed and three injured when Taliban militants blew up an electricity pylon using a remote-controlled device in Merra Suraizai Payan village on the outskirts of the provincial capital Peshawar. A Police official said that explosives weighing five kilograms planted by the Taliban at the base of the tower went off at around 2pm, killing a PESCO lineman, Muhammad Rehman, and injuring three others. A bomb disposal squad official said the Taliban used four sticks of dynamite – weighing a kilogram each – to initially damage the pylon, and when PESCO officials were repairing the damage, a remote controlled device was detonated.

July 15

Two children were injured in a rocket attack. A Police official told that Taliban militants fired three rockets from an unidentified location into the city at about 12:30pm, and one of them hit a house in Sethi Town, injuring a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. He said the rockets landed in Chmakani, Gulbahar and Pahari Pura areas of the city.

July 15

Two people, including an official of the UNHCR, were killed and another injured when suspected Taliban militants attempted to abduct UN officials at the Katcha Ghari Refugee Camp in Nasir Bagh. An official from the Nasir Bagh Police Station said four armed men in a car tried to kidnap UNHCR officials as they were leaving the refugee camp on Jamrud Road. "A guard fired at the kidnappers when they grabbed a UN official by the collar… the kidnappers also started firing – killing UNHCR official Zill-e-Usman, chairman of the UNHCR Staff Council in Peshawar, and injuring another official, Ishfaq Ahmed, and Afghan Commissionarte guard Aladdin," he said, adding that the guard later died at hospital.

July 15

Peshawar Police said they had seized an explosive-laden car in the city’s Shahabkhel area. An official said Policeman had signaled the car to stop during routine security surveillance at a check-post. The driver did not respond, prompting Police to pursue the car, the official said, adding that the driver managed to escape after abandoning the car some distance away. The Police said they recovered 200 kilograms of explosives, 1,800 detonators and 1,000 safety fuses from the car.

July 18

SFs arrested at least four people during a search operation in the Achini Bala area of Peshawar and parts of Khyber Agency. The arrests are said to be part of a crackdown on the banned LI. Security personnel also demolished an LI centre in the area and destroyed a bridge used by militants to re-supply. Those arrested militants were identified as Siraj, Masood and Okhair. The identity of the fourth man was yet to be ascertained. A local elder told that nearly 100 LI activists usually stayed at the centre, located in the Achini village and have several sympathizers among Afridi tribesmen living in the settled areas close to the Khyber Agency border.

Suspected militants of the Mangal Bagh group killed four Policemen in an ambush on the outskirts of Peshawar. According to official sources, the Police team was patrolling the Sarband cattle fair on Bara Road at around noon when was attacked. Sub-Inspector Riaz Khan, constables Laiq Shah and Khudadad and driver Zahir Shah were killed on the spot. Another Policeman is reported to have jumped out of the vehicle and escaped unhurt. A case has been registered against Mangal Bagh, the head of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) group, and his 'commanders' Gul Amin, Fazal Amin, Said Noor, Dilawar, Tariq, Saifur and Wahid. Sources said it could be a revenge attack for the July 18 operation in the Achini village in which LeI's office was destroyed.

13 suspected terrorists, including four teenaged suicide bombers, were arrested while suicide jackets and explosives were recovered during a raid on a coal shed in Civil Quarters. Apart from the suicide jackets, a huge quantity of explosives, hand-grenades and rockets were also recovered from the building.

Militants shot dead two Policemen in Paharipura. A squad of the Paharipura Police Station was ambushed by unknown gunmen in Islamabad town of Peshawar around 2:30 am while patrolling the streets. Both the members of the squad, Hidayatullah from Harichand village in Charsadda, and Imtiaz, resident of Afghan Colony in Peshawar, were killed in the attack.

In the southern Mashogagar village, terrorists killed a prayer leader Qari Roohul Amin of Sulemankhel, who had been abducted on June 29, and placed three kilograms of explosives with his body to trigger it with a remote control device in the hope that Policemen would come close to it. Officials of the bomb disposal squad, however, defused the explosives without any damage.

Three rockets hit a military airbase and a FC official's house but no casualties were reported, Police said. Two rockets hit the Badaber airbase in Peshawar but no damage was reported. Separately, a rocket was fired at an FC official's house in Gulberg II, Saddar area of the provincial capital. The structure was partially destroyed in the attack and a neighbouring house was also damaged. The official's brother, Malik Ashraf, told reporters that they had rented the property to a family from Hangu two days ago and had been living elsewhere themselves.

Militants fired rockets at a paramilitary checkpoint in Peshawar, killing two civilians. The pre-dawn rocket attack targeted a Frontier Corps base in the city's Hayatabad neighborhood, said Peshawar Police chief Sifwat Ghayur. "One rocket landed harmlessly inside the post but three others strayed into the residential area, killing two men and wounding three others," Ghayur said.

Unidentified militants fired at least two rockets in the Peshawar city. The first rocket hit a house in Gulberg and the second landed in Bana Manri. The Bomb Disposal Squad defused another two rockets in Chathro Dag area of Badbher. A Bana Manri Police Official said the rocket had damaged a power supply line, but there were no casualties. A Peshawar Electric Supply Company spokesman said the rocket had damaged an 11KV transmission line.

August 18

Suspected militants beheaded a man kidnapped from the Matani area on August 12. Kabir Hussain, who had come from the US and was on way from Peshawar airport to his village Dabori in the Kohat District, was kidnapped by five armed men from Matani along with the taxi driver, Mira Khan, who was later released.

August 19

The body of a suspected Al Qaeda leader was found in a house in Peshawar. According to officials, the body with multiple wounds was of Abdullah Noori, son of Abdul Qadir, an Algerian believed to be Osama bin Laden’s top aide. They said the man had been suffering from kidney ailment and was being treated by a private physician in a rented house in the Tehkal area on the University Road. Ten other people in the house were also arrested, but seven of them were later released. The other three are said to be foreigners, one of them from Algeria.

August 22

Two persons were killed and three others injured in a suicide blast in Hayatabad area. The blast occurred in sector N-I Phase IV of the area near the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC). Senior Superintendent of Police, Qazi Jamilur Rehman, said it was a remote-controlled device and weighed around five to seven kilograms. He said that the bomb was attached to a vehicle carrying Haji Mubin, a spokesman for the Ansar-ul-Islam, a Khyber Agency-based banned outfit and another member of the organisation. Rehman said Mubin and his fellow passenger were killed along with three passers-by.

August 23

Three persons were killed and 15 others sustained injuries in a powerful suicide blast close to the house of the slain Ansar-ul-Islam spokesman, Mobin Afridi, in the Momin Town area. The blast also destroyed four houses and damaged eight others in the street. "Three people, including two women, were killed and 15 others injured when the suicide bomber blew himself up in a street after he ran short of ammunition," said Senior Superintendent of Police Qazi Jamilur Rehman. The bomb disposal squad estimated around eight kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. A large number of ball bearings and nails were also used in the blast to increase its intensity.

Suspected militants shot dead two FC troopers in Nasir Bagh suburbs of Peshawar early in the morning. An official of the Nasir Bagh Police Station said that the FC personnel were on routine patrol when around 3am unidentified people armed with sophisticated weapons attacked them. He said the troops also returned the fire. In the encounter, FC soldiers, Mula Jan and Arbab, residents of Bara in Khyber Agency, were injured. They later died at the Khyber Teaching Hospital. Cantonment Circle Superintendent of Police Nisar Khan Marwat said the incident appeared to be target killing.

Two oil tankers, carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, were attacked by suspected Taliban militants, injuring their drivers and a helper on the Ring Road.

Suspected militants blew up a girl's school on the outskirts of Peshawar, Police officer Hamdullah Khan said. Since the school was empty at the time of the IED blast, no one was injured.

Two suicide attackers separately rammed their explosives-laden vehicles into a Police station in Bannu and a military-owned commercial bank in Peshawar cantonment area, killing at least 23 people and injuring around another 200. At least 10 people were killed in the attack in Peshawar, while seven, including two Policemen, were killed in the assault on the Bannu Police station. But a Police official in Bannu said 13 people had been killed. Around 94 people were injured in Peshawar and 64, including 31 Policemen, in Bannu. "It was a car suicide blast and according to our calculations 100 kilograms of explosives were used," Shafqat Malik, bomb disposal squad chief, said at the incident site of the Peshawar attack. "The suicide bomber sitting inside the car hurled a grenade and then he detonated himself and the car," Malik said, describing the target as a branch of a bank run by an Army welfare trust. Eyewitnesses said Police arrested two suspicious persons from the site of Peshawar blast, which occurred some 300 metres away from the headquarters of the 11 Corps and the US Consulate in the high-security zone.

The death toll from September 26 suicide attacks increased to 27 with the recovery of more dead bodies in the debris of the Bannu Police Station and the death of some of those critically wounded in the attack in NWFP, said Police. Two suicide attackers reportedly rammed their explosives-laden vehicles into a Police station in Bannu and a military-owned commercial bank in Peshawar cantonment area separately.

Suspected Taliban militants fired three rockets at Peshawar, damaging a school building and a vehicle. A Pishtakhara Police Official said that the three rockets were fired from an unknown location at 2:30 am. One hit the Nodeyah Payan High School, damaging the boundary wall of the building and a van parked inside, while the other two landed in fields nearby.

Terrorists continued attacking Peshawar, as three more rockets landed in parts of the city from an unknown location, injuring three persons and damaging two houses. A woman, a minor girl and a boy sustained injuries when a rocket hit a house in Miskeenabad under the jurisdiction of Bhanamari Police Station at around 2 am. The house was partially damaged in the attack. Another projectile landed inside the house of a banker, Riaz, in Landi Arbab village, damaging the building partially. The third projectile is reported to have landed in the nearby open fields.

Unidentified militants fired three rockets from an undisclosed location, hitting different areas of the provincial capital and injuring one person. A Police official said a rocket hit a house in Shaheen Colony and injured one person. Another rocket hit the Communication and Works Department office in Khyber Colony in the Town Police precincts. However, no casualties were reported. In addition, another rocket hit an agriculture farm in the Peshtakhara Police precincts.

49 persons, including a woman and seven children, were killed and 90 others were injured when a suicide attacker detonated his explosives-laden car at the crowded Soekarno Chowk in Khyber Bazaar. A Police official said that people were busy in routine activities when a suicide bomber detonated the explosives laden in his car. Many of those killed and injured were passengers of a mini-bus that was passing through the area at the time of the blast. Seven children, many of them schoolboys, and a woman, were among those killed. The blast destroyed around 30 vehicles and partially damaged over 60 shops in the nearby markets. Windowpanes of hundreds of shops and offices were also reportedly destroyed. Among those killed or injured were patients and their attendants going or coming out of the nearby Lady Reading Hospital, the biggest public sector hospital in the NWFP.

October 15

An eight-year-old boy, identified as Hamza, was killed and 12 persons, including two Policemen, were wounded when a powerful bomb exploded in a three-storey building in the officers’ colony of provincial capital Peshawar. Capital City Police Officer Liaquat Ali Khan told reporters that the bomb planted in a car was detonated by a remote control. The building is reported to have collapsed and several apartments in adjacent buildings were damaged. Some vehicles parked in the area were also damaged. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations), Karim Khan, told journalists that approximately 60 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.

October 16

15 persons, including three policemen, were killed and 19 others sustained injuries after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the CIA’s Special Investigation Unit in Peshawar. Bomb Disposal Squad Chief Shafqat Malik said that 60-70 kilograms of explosives had been used in the attack, adding that Police had recovered a leg of the attacker.

October 23

15 people were injured in a bombing outside a restaurant in the Hayatabad area. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Muhammad Karim Khan, said nine of the injured were being treated at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, while six had already been discharged. Two people were in critical condition, he added. He said the bomb had been planted in a car, adding it had contained around 60 kilograms of explosives. One suspect has been arrested in this connection.

October 28

A remote-controlled car bomb killed 117 people – including women and children – and injured around 200 others at the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar. Bomb disposal squad chief Shafqat Malik told reporters that 150 kilograms of explosives were used in the remote-controlled blast. He said that some people were still trapped under the rubble. The explosion brought down buildings. A three-storey building and a mosque, Masjid Umme Habiba, situated in the narrow bazaar, caved in while six other structures were engulfed by a huge fire caused by the explosion. Around 12 houses and over 60 shops were gutted while almost 300 other shops and houses were severely damaged due to the powerful explosion at around 12:40 pm. The Meena Bazaar is famous for women’s dresses, cosmetics and children’s garments.

At least 18 people, including a local councillor heading an anti-Taliban Lashkar (militia), were killed and 44 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a cattle market at Adezai village, 25 kilometres south of the capital city of Peshawar. Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Muhammad Karim Khan said that that around eight-to-10 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three persons, including a Policeman, were killed and five others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber riding an auto-rickshaw blew himself up at a Police barricade on the Ring Road in the Latifabad area. An eyewitness, Attaullah, told reporters that Policemen deployed at a barricade near a canal signaled an auto-rickshaw to stop around 10:00 am (PST). "A man in his early 20s, having a trimmed beard and wearing brown clothes, came out of the three-wheeler and detonated explosives strapped around his vest," he recalled. Another eyewitness, Sher Afzal, said he saw two people going towards the barricade in a rickshaw a few moments before the blast. Investigators said five to six kilograms of explosives were used in the incident. This was the second suicide bombing in Peshawar during the last 24 hours.

Syed Abul Hassan Jaffry, media manager of the Iranian consulate in Peshawar, was shot dead near his home in Gulbarg. Jaffry was going to his office when he was shot at point-blank range as he turned his car towards the Swati Phatak. Cantonment Circle Superintendent of Police Nisar Khan Marwat said that it appeared to be a sectarian attack. He said there was no eyewitness, but it was possible that more than one assailant had fired at the car from two directions with 30-bore pistols. Jaffry's brother-in-law Shah Agha said "It was a target killing, but it is not clear if he was killed by Americans or it was a sectarian attack. He had no enmity with anyone."

13 people - 10 military personnel and three civilians - were killed and 60 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the regional headquarters of the ISI in Peshawar. An ISPR statement said the bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a military check-post on Artillery Road at 6:45am (PST), killing 10 military personnel and three civilians, and injuring 60. The NWFP Inspector General of Police, Malik Naveed, said the vehicle was loaded with around 200 kilograms of explosives. NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain told the media that nine ISI officials were killed, while three were missing. Hussain also said that surrounding walls and an entire block of the agency headquarters were completely destroyed, while six blocks had been partially damaged.

12 persons, including a Policeman and a three-year-old child, were killed and another 35 injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at a Police checkpost in Peshawar.

20 people - including three Policemen - were killed and 50 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Judicial Complex on Khyber Road. This was the sixth suicide attack in 11 days in the provincial capital.

Two rockets fired from an unknown location slightly damaged a house in Railway Colony in the Cantonment area. One of the projectiles landed at the house of a civilian, Shakil, in Railway Colony and caused damage to the building, while the other landed in the fields without causing any casualty or damage.

November 25

The cleaner of an oil tanker, meant for NATO forces in Afghanistan, was killed and its driver injured when unidentified gunmen attacked the vehicle on the Ring Road near Tor Baba.

November 26

A remote-controlled bomb blast injured three people, including two Policemen, and destroyed an electricity pylon in Bashirabad area. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Coordination) of Peshawar, Muhammad Alam Shinwari, said that the device had been planted to target Gulbahar SHO Riazul Islam. He said at least two kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack.

November 30

Two Police officials were injured when unidentified armed men attacked their vehicle on the Indus Highway, Police said. A Police official said that Mattani Station House Officer Riaz Khan and Constable Shamshad were seriously injured when the attackers ambushed their patrol vehicle. The official said the police party was on a routine patrol when they were attacked, adding the armed men seemed to have attempted to abduct the Policemen.

December 3

A Police official was injured in an explosion at a Police check-post in the Regi area of capital Peshawar. A Police official said the blast created a three feet deep and eight feet wide crater at the site. Bomb Disposal Squad chief Shafqat Malik told reporters that around seven kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Coordination), Muhammad Alam Shinwari, said the remote- controlled device was planted at some distance from the check-post.

December 7

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court in Peshawar, the provincial capital of NWFP, killing 12 people, including two Policemen, and injuring 50 others. It was the second suicide attack on a court in the city in three weeks. The earlier target was the Judicial Complex on the Khyber Road and the bombing claimed 22 lives. The two Policemen who died were identified as head Constable Naseer Ahmed and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ruhullah. The blast damaged the court building and damaged windows of the nearby MPA hostel, petrol station and some other buildings. About half a dozen vehicles and motorcycles were destroyed. Peshawar District Coordination Officer Sahibzada Mohammad Anees said the bomber had come in an auto-rickshaw. He tried to enter the session’s court building, but when the Policeman on duty stopped him for a search, the man blew himself up. Dr Hameed Afridi of the Lady Reading Hospital said that 54 victims had been brought to the hospital. Six of them were brought dead and three others died in the hospital. The condition of six of the inured was critical, he said. Mohammad Tanveer told Dawn that the bomber had used six to seven kilograms of explosives. Parts of his suicide vest, ball bearings and his head and legs have been found.

December 8

Peshawar Police foiled bomb blast bid in Bakhshupul area of the Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, when they defused four bombs weighing 40 kilogrammes each. Inspector General Shafqat Malik said the bombs could have destroyed everything within a 100 meters radius had they not been defused.

December 16

Unidentified militants fired several rockets in Peshawar city, the capital of NWFP. The rockets landed in an uninhabited area and caused no loss of life or property. Chamkani Station Police officials said that the explosion occurred in Afridi Garhi on Chamkani Road at around 7:30 AM (PST). The Bomb Disposal Squad said the rockets were of the MP-12 type.

December 19

A Police patrol party convoy narrowly escaped a roadside bomb blast at a suburban Afridi Garhi locality along the Ring Road-Chughalpura Road in Peshawar of NWFP. Police said the blast occurred when DSP Iftikhar Khan and some constables were passing through the area. The DSP said he was on official duty, adding the bomb went off seconds before the Police patrol party would have reached the spot. Speaking with journalists, Peshawar Senior Superintendent (coordination) Muhammad Alam Shinwari said the explosive device had been planted along the road and was detonated using a remote control, adding it seemed the actual target of the suspected militants was the Police convoy.

December 20

A private school building was damaged in a blast in Mathra Police Station area of Peshawar. A Mathra Police Station official said that the blast occurred at around 2 AM (PST) in the Muslim Public School, damaging two rooms, a gate and part of the boundary wall. However, no casualty in the blast was reported.

December 22

Three people, including a woman, were killed and another 24 persons injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Peshawar Press Club in Peshawar of NWFP. The building is situated on the Sher Shah Suri Road close to the Cantonment Railway Station. Lady Reading Hospital officials confirmed the toll in the first ever suicide attack in the country aimed specifically at journalists. They said two of the bodies were identified as police constable Riazuddin and a passer-by, Rubina. Rubina, who died of a cardiac arrest, was traveling in a rickshaw close to the press club when the blast occurred. Peshawar Press Club accountant Mian Iqbal Shah succumbed to his injury at the hospital later. Several passers-by, including those travelling in a minibus, were injured in the blast besides Peshawar Press Club employees Yasir, Ayub and Kamran. A photojournalist, Khurram Pervez, also sustained injuries in the blast. Peshawar City Police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told reporters that the suicide attacker had tried to enter the premises. The Police guard at the gate frisked the man and tried to overpower him when he discovered that the person was wearing a suicide vest, however, the bomber detonated his vest during the scuffle. The press club employee Yasir Jamil, who was also injured in the blast said that the suicide bomber was trying to enter the press club when the Police guard stopped him. He said the attacker had an argument with the guard, and blew himself up moments later. He said the bomber had a dark complexion and short height and seemed around 18 to 19 years of age.

December 24

Four persons were killed and 24 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security post in Peshawar. Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (Coordination) Muhammad Alam Shinwari said that four persons, including one Policeman and three civilians, were killed and 24 injured in the attack, which was carried out using a suicide jacket packed with eight kilogrammes of explosives. The bomber struck at the junction of Mall Road and Arbab Road in front of an insurance company’s office, where a Security Force post had been set up to inspect vehicles. A policeman said the bomber was on foot and detonated explosives strapped to his body when Policemen stopped him at the post.

December 25

Two Policemen were killed in a militant attack in Peshawar, the capital of the NWFP, in the early hours. An official source said that unidentified militants shot dead two Policemen at a check post in Taj Abad locality of Peshawar. The official said the two Policemen were identified as Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Javed, both from Swabi District. According to the officials, the militants managed to escape after killing the Policemen.

December 25

The militants tried to blow up a Government boys’ high school in Spin Wari village in Peshawar. According to the Police, the blast only damaged the school’s boundary wall.