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Terrorism-related
Incidents in Islamabad - 2009
No
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Date
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Incident
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1
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March 23
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A suicide bomber blew himself
up at the entrance of the headquarters of the Special Branch (SB),
an intelligence agency of the Federal Capital Police, in Sitara
Market in Islamabad, killing himself and a Policeman. Two Police
officials were wounded in the attack. Over 120 personnel of the
Special Branch reside on the premises of the SB headquarters and
most of them were present in their barracks, said an SB official.
Police Constable Faisal Khan, deployed at the main gate of the
headquarters, reportedly got hold of the suicide bomber when he
was advancing towards the barracks. The bomber detonated the bomb,
killing both of them. "The bomber wanted to hit the residential
rooms of the SB personnel," an unnamed officer said.
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2
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April 04 |
Eight Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were
killed, and seven others injured, when a suicide bomber blew himself
up at an FC check post on the Margala Road. The blast, which took
place at 7:35pm, was followed by an exchange of fire between FC
personnel and unidentified accomplices of the suicide attacker.
The crossfire continued for around 20 minutes, an eyewitness told.
However, Police denied any exchange of fire, saying security officials
had been firing in the air to scare away other attackers.
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3
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May 28 |
Police arrested a Taliban operative along with
former Member of National Assembly from FATA, Shah Abdul Aziz,
who was allegedly helping the Taliban escape in Islamabad, a private
TV channel reported. Police sources were quoted as saying that
the suspected Taliban operative was hiding in Lal Masjid cleric
Abdul Aziz's house in G-6 sector. Police claimed the Taliban commander
was on the run from Swat and was allegedly a link between the
Lal Masjid cleric and TTP chief Fazlullah, the channel reported.
They added the commander might have links to the attack in Lahore.
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4
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June 1 |
Police in Islamabad have arrested a Taliban leader
involved in training underage boys of Islamabad seminaries for
terrorist activities and suicide bombing, the Senior Superintendent
of Police (SSP) Tahir Alam Khan informed a press conference in
the national capital. The SSP said Fidaullah was arrested on a
tip-off provided by Khairullah and Khurram Shehzad, two terrorists
arrested in connection with the attacks on the Frontier Corps
Camp. Fidaullah had facilitated the suicide bombers by transporting
them to the targeted spots and giving them shelter, he said. Fidaullah
alias Abdul Rehman alias Junaid, a resident of village Sawarhi
in the Buner District of NWFP, had publicly slaughtered three
residents of Swat District in Sultanwas and Pir Baba, separating
their heads from their bodies while fighting the Security Forces,
the SSP said, adding that he was wanted by security agencies for
his involvement in terrorist activities. He had been training
youngsters for conducting suicide bombing, he said.
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5
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June 6 |
Two Policemen were killed and four others injured
in a suicide attack on a Rescue 15 office at Sector G-8 in capital
Islamabad. "It was a huge blast that jolted the area and shattered
everything into pieces in front of my eyes," an eyewitness said.
Islamabad police arrested some people in connection with the attack,
police spokesman Muhammad Naeem said. "We have found a hand and
two legs of the bomber. We have not been able to find his head
so far," senior Police officer Bin Yameen told. A mere 20 minutes
before the suicide blast, a private TV channel reported, senior
Police officials conducted an important meeting on the law and
order situation.
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6
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June 24
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Police claim to have arrested
at least 43 suspected terrorists from various parts of the Punjab
province as part of a countrywide crackdown against militants.
Officials revealed they had arrested 25 suspected Taliban militants
from Islamabad, some of who were plotting attacks on foreign targets.
"We have arrested 25 Taliban and recovered suicide jackets from
them. Six of the men arrested had been on the most wanted list,"
Islamabad Police chief Kaleem Imam said. "These terrorists, who
hailed from Swat and Waziristan, were planning sabotage activities
in Karachi, Lahore and other big cities… Their targets mostly
were law enforcement agencies, vital installations and foreign
dignitaries," he added. Confirming the threat, the Swedish Foreign
Ministry has claimed that one of the men arrested had told investigators
he had been preparing for attacks on embassies, including the
Swedish mission.
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7
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July 2 |
Two would-be suicide bombers were arrested from
the national capital Islamabad. The bombers, along with "an assistant",
had been arrested on the basis of intelligence reports. The arrested
men, identified as Imran and Iqbal, were members of the banned
TTP. Police also seized suicide jackets.
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8
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July 3 |
Police claimed arresting a suspected terrorist
in the national capital Islamabad. However, the exact date of
his arrest was not stated. Police sources said the alleged terrorist,
identified as Zahid (50), was a resident of Miranshah, headquarters
of the North Waziristan Agency in the FATA. He was an explosives'
expert and said he belonged to the Ilyas Kashmiri group. Police
sources said the suspect was also involved in the murder of Major-General
(retd) Amir Faisal Alvi, a former chief of the army's Special
Services Group.
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9
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July 13
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Police arrested two high-profile
terrorists in the federal capital Islamabad. According to a press
statement, 34-year-old Muhammad Owais and 30-year-old Ubaidullah
belonged to the terrorist group ‘Ghazi Force’. The two are accused
of recruiting young men from Islamabad and Pakistan occupied Kashmir
for training at terrorist camps.
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10
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July 15
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The Islamabad Police arrested
a suspected terrorist and also recovered hand grenades, a Kalashnikov
and ammunition from his possession, Police sources told. However,
three other members of his gang managed to escape. The terrorist,
identified as 30-year old Attaullah Khan, a resident of Gumbat
in Kohat District of NWFP, disclosed during preliminary questioning
that a group of four terrorists had entered the capital city to
target the offices of Inspector General of Police Islamabad, District
Courts and Sabzi Mandi Police Station. According to the Police,
he was involved in 26 terrorist cases, including the kidnapping
of the Polish engineer.
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11
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July 26 |
Security agencies arrested three terrorists believed
to be of the Qari Saifullah group for their alleged involvement
in attack (September 20, 2008) on Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
They were identified as Saleem Iqbal, Zahid Iqbal and Mohammad
Zafar Ammad. According to sources, they were arrested during a
raid by a joint team of capital Police and security agencies on
a house located in Barakahu, in Islamabad's suburbs. Police have
reportedly been looking for them since their escape from a bus
terminal in Pirwadhai in Rawalpindi after one of their associates
Attaullah was arrested on July 15. Their group had arrived there
from the tribal area via Kohat in NWFP. They reportedly fled to
Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and returned
to Islamabad in the night of July 25. Attaullah was allegedly
involved in the murders of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
and a Polish engineer. Sources said Saleem and one Ashraf had
transported explosives used in the suicide attack on Marriott
Hotel from South Waziristan to Jhang via Dera Ismail Khan. A mobile
phone used by Ashraf was also seized from Saleem. Some explosives,
hand-grenades, pistols and bullets were found in their hideout.
It is said that terrorists were trying to attack court premises,
offices of senior police and administration officers and other
important installations in Islamabad. But their special mission
was to free Fasihullah Teepu and Waseem who are in Adiala Jail
in Rawalpindi for their involvement in the F-8 Markaz bomb blast
in Islamabad in 2007.
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12
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August 2 |
A terrorist with links to the Al Qaeda was arrested
by security agencies from the federal capital Islamabad, Police
said. The man, identified by Police as Rao Shakir, was arrested
from the Bhara Kahu area of Islamabad. He was linked to several
terrorist attacks, including a suicide attack on a bus of an intelligence
agency, the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad
in September 2008 and an attack in Rawalpindi. Officials said
Police had been looking for Shakir for a long time. A Police spokesman
said Shakir's accomplices were arrested earlier. The arrested
man also allegedly provided safe houses to militants. Shakir is
believed to be a member of an Al Qaeda-linked group suspected
of involvement in the 2002 abduction and killing (February 1,
2002) of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
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13
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August 17
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Police arrested a key Taliban
commander from Bhara Kahu in the national capital. A police official
said that Qari Saifullah, who was found injured and is being treated
at a hospital, was a member of the TTP. He said Saifullah was
a close associate of the slain TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud and
an accomplice of another high-profile terrorist, Fidaullah, who
had been arrested by the Police sometime in June 2009. Saifullah
reportedly told the Police he had been injured in a drone strike
in South Waziristan. Police have also arrested Saifullah’s brother
Zahid from the Secretariat Police precincts.
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14
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September 1 |
Police and security agencies arrested two suspects
affiliated with the banned SSP outfit and involved in arranging
manpower for terrorist activities, sources told. The sources identified
the alleged terrorists as Abu Waqas and Mohammad Akram. The arrest
was made during a raid by a joint team of the capital police and
security agencies in Bhara Kahu. Literature regarding jihad, cellular
phones and SIMs were recovered from their possession. The duo
is accused of arranging potential recruits for the outfit's cause
in the capital's rural area and its adjacent cities and towns
for education and training. First, they used to arrange potential
recruits and bring them to a seminary located in Bhara Kahu where
they were indoctrinated. Subsequently, the selected recruits were
shifted to Waziristan in FATA for training in terrorist activities,
including suicide bombing, ambush and handling of weapons and
explosives. The suspects recruited a large number of teenage boys
and youth, the sources added.
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15
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September 2 |
The Federal Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed
Kazmi was injured and his driver killed when unidentified men
attacked his car near the GPO Chowk in Sector G-6 of capital Islamabad.
The minister was attacked by two gunmen riding a motorbike when
he was passing through GPO Chowk after he had left his office.
According to an eyewitness, the men followed the minister's car,
which was not accompanied by any security escort, soon after he
left his office, firing at his vehicle at the Shaheed-e-Millat
Road, Senior Superintendent Police Tahir Alam Khan said. The firing
killed the minister's driver Muhammad Younis on the spot. The
minister was reportedly shot in his left shin and his security
guard was also seriously wounded. Interior Minister Rehman Malik
said in a brief comment it was a target attack. Later, the Police
found a bag with two pistols, a Kalashnikov and hand grenades
that the attackers had thrown a few hundred yards away from the
incident site.
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16
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October 5 |
A suicide bomber targeted the United Nations World
Food Programme office in Islamabad, killing five persons, including
a UN diplomat and two women employees. Six other staff members
were injured. The terrorist is reported to have entered the WFP
building in Frontier Corps uniform through the small gate. He
walked to the reception and blew himself up at 1217 hours, an
investigation agency source said. The WFP office is located in
a tightly-guarded residential area of the national capital. The
dead included a UN diplomat and Iraqi national Bootan Ali, in
charge reception Gul Rukh, assistant in charge reception Farzana
Barkat, Abdul Wahab and Abid Rehman.
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17
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October 18
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Security agencies have started
a crackdown in and around the federal capital Islamabad against
miscreants having links with terrorist outfits, detaining dozens
of suspicious people from different areas of the metropolis. The
Police conducted a search operation in various seminaries being
run illegally and raided some religious academies suspected by
intelligence agencies for their involvement in suspicious activities,
intelligence agency sources said. The sources said intelligence
agencies, in the context of the military operation in South Waziristan,
sent a list of different seminaries to the law-enforcing agencies,
seeking immediate action against them.
At least 73 suspects, including
seven foreigners, were arrested when the law-enforcement agencies
conducted raids in Lahore, Islamabad and other parts of the country,
sources said. Agencies raided Azadi Chaok Yadgar in Lahore and
arrested three persons and recovered a huge cache of weapons,
cartridges and fake identity cards from their possession. The
accused belong to the TTP’s Amjad Farooqi Group. Further, the
Margalla Police raided the office of the Hizbut Tahrir in Islamabad
and arrested 35 persons. The police claimed to have recovered
sensitive material from the office. Besides, the Guddu Police
arrested several foreigners from a coach going from Quetta to
Peshawar. In a joint operation, Police and Rangers arrested seven
foreigners from the border area between the Punjab and Sindh provinces.
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17
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October 18
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Security agencies have started a crackdown in and
around the federal capital Islamabad against miscreants having
links with terrorist outfits, detaining dozens of suspicious people
from different areas of the metropolis. The Police conducted a
search operation in various seminaries being run illegally and
raided some religious academies suspected by intelligence agencies
for their involvement in suspicious activities, intelligence agency
sources said. The sources said intelligence agencies, in the context
of the military operation in South Waziristan, sent a list of
different seminaries to the law-enforcing agencies, seeking immediate
action against them.At least 73 suspects, including seven foreigners,
were arrested when the law-enforcement agencies conducted raids
in Lahore, Islamabad and other parts of the country, sources said.
Agencies raided Azadi Chaok Yadgar in Lahore and arrested three
persons and recovered a huge cache of weapons, cartridges and
fake identity cards from their possession. The accused belong
to the TTP’s Amjad Farooqi Group. Further, the Margalla Police
raided the office of the Hizbut Tahrir in Islamabad and arrested
35 persons. The police claimed to have recovered sensitive material
from the office. Besides, the Guddu Police arrested several foreigners
from a coach going from Quetta to Peshawar. In a joint operation,
Police and Rangers arrested seven foreigners from the border area
between the Punjab and Sindh provinces.
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18
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October 19
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The Islamabad Police arrested
an activist of the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (also known as Lashkar-e-Toiba)
from the Pir Wadhai area.
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19
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October 20
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Two suicide bombers targeted the
new campus of the International Islamic University Islamabad in
the H-10 sector, killing at least six students and staff members,
including two female students, and injuring more than 29 others.
Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, Amer Ali Ahmad, said that the
deceased were identified as Sidra Khalid (student), Hina (student),
Pervaiz Masih (sanitary worker), Shaukat Bhatti (security guard),
Amna (worker) and Khalil-ur-Rehman (student). This is the first
terrorist attack on an educational institution in Islamabad.
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20
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October 22
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Unidentified gunmen attacked an
army vehicle in the federal capital, killing a Brigadier and his
driver and critically injuring a guard. Police officials said
Brigadier Moinuddin Haider was en route to his office in Rawalpindi
when the assailants fired at his jeep at around 8:45am near Street
No 5, G-11/1. Police and witnesses put the number of assailants
at two – aged between 18-to-20 years – and said they were riding
a motorbike. "It was an act of terrorism… The purpose was to kill
and make news," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas was
quoted as saying by Reuters.
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21
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October 22
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Police and law-enforcement agencies
arrested around 200 suspected terrorists in various search operations
across the country. According to a private TV channel, the Security
Forces – in collaboration with Police – arrested 152 suspects
from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Most of the men belong either to
the FATA or are Afghan nationals. Those arrested in Islamabad
included an alleged suicide bomber – who was wearing a suicide
jacket when he was arrested, according to Deputy Superintendent
of Police Khan Khursheed Khan. The channel reported that another
suicide bomber was also arrested in Islamabad. Further, the channel
said one of those arrested in Islamabad was carrying "maps" of
sensitive locations.
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22
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October 23
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Police claimed the arrest of a
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan terrorist, Qaisar Mauvia, from Sector
F-12, and also apprehended 60 suspects from different parts of
Islamabad. Police said Mauvia was involved in target killing and
other illegal activities in the country. Meanwhile, a senior Police
officer said the Police had arrested 80 suspects in the last three
days. He said the Police continued the operation on October 23
and arrested 60 suspects from Dhok Noon, Dhok Makhan, Bhatta,
Sohan, Pind Warian, Khana Dak, Khana East, Koral, Ghori Town,
Kalinger and other slums in the Aabpara and Margallah police precincts.
The official said police had seized 22 guns, 10 pistols, two Kalashnikov
rifles, ammunition and 102 bottles of liquor from them. Most of
the arrested persons were from Waziristan and Afghanistan. Separately,
Police arrested four alleged terrorists from Farooqabad during
a crackdown on suspicious persons.
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23
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October 27
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A high-ranking army officer narrowly
escaped an attempt on his life in the national capital Islamabad.
Brigadier Waqar Ahmad Malik, Director of Defence Services Guards
at the GHQ, was going to a bank along with his mother in his official
car when a gunman in khaki and wearing a shawl opened fire on
him. The Brigadier, who was in mufti, escaped unhurt because his
driver reportedly sped the vehicle away. The windscreen of the
car and its roof was badly damaged. This was the second attack
on a senior officer in Islamabad in less than a week. On October
22, Brigadier Moinuddin Ahmad was killed by terrorists in the
G-11/1 sector.
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24
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October 27
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Police arrested six suspects from
the Jinnah Super Market after they failed to identify themselves.
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25 |
November 8 |
Police foiled a terror attack attempt when they
killed a would-be suicide bomber near the Golra Police check post.
While two accomplices of the attacker managed to escape, a suicide
jacket was recovered from the incident site.
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26 |
November 20 |
The Islamabad Police announced that it had arrested
a suspect involved in a suicide attack at a UN office in October
2009 and a series of other bomb blasts. "Five blasts took place
in Islamabad in 2009, four of them have been investigated and
he is involved in the four blasts," Islamabad Police chief Kalim
Imam told a press conference. Police paraded the suspect, identified
as Jamshed alias Tahir, before journalists. Kalim Imam said the
suspect aided in the acts of suicide attack on the World Food
Programme office in Islamabad in which five UN employees were
killed. He allegedly brought the bomber to the World Food Programme
office, Imam said. Police found suicide jackets, about eight kilograms
of explosives and ball bearings used to make bombs in his possession.
Imam said that the man was a key activist of Ghazi Force formed
and operated by Maula Niaz Raheem, a former student of the Lal
Masjid. According to Police, the Ghazi Force was formed to carry
out reprisal or revenge activities for the 2007 military operation
against the Lal Masjid. Police said Jamshed was arrested from
the Rawal Lake area where he was waiting for his accomplices coming
from Orakzai Agency.
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27 |
December 2
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An official of the Pakistan Navy
foiled a suicide attack on the Naval Headquarters at Zafar Chowk
on the Margalla Road in the national capital Islamabad. However,
two Navy personnel were killed in the attack, while 13 persons
were injured. A spokesman for the Pakistan Navy confirmed the
death of two personnel - Amjad Ittwar and Muhammad Ashraf. A 16-year-old
suicide bomber blew himself up at 1:30 pm during his body search,
eyewitnesses said. A Navy spokesman claimed students of Bahria
College located on the premises of the complex were the target
of the terrorist. Police said a naval intelligence official, deployed
in plainclothes around the main entrance gate of the Naval Complex
in E-8 Sector of Islamabad and a naval guard, spotted a suspicious
teenager following information provided by a passer-by. He called
the boy and started searching him. As he was engaged in the body
search, the boy blew himself up.
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28 |
December 6
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The law-enforcement agencies arrested
60 suspected persons from the twin cities of Islamabad-Rawalpindi
during a grand search operation in the wake of Parade Lane mosque
attack in Rawalpindi city. The Islamabad Police arrested 60 suspected
persons from the limits of Sabzi Mandi Police Station. Meanwhile,
the Rawalpindi City Police along with other law-enforcement agencies
arrested 10 suspected people in search operation in Rawalpindi.
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December 25
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The Police recovered a cache of
arms and ammunition from Morrian area near Rawal Town of Islamabad.
The Police sources said that a citizen informed Shahzad Town Police
Station that arms and ammunition was lying at a deserted place
at Morrian near Rawal Town. Shahzad Town Police and bomb disposal
squad reached the place and found two hand grenades, huge quantity
of sulpher powder and other arms and ammunition.
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