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Terrorism-related Incidents in Islamabad - 2009

No

Date

Incident

1

March 23

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.

2
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.

3
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.

4
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.

5
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.

6

June 24

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.

7
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.

8
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.

9

July 13

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.

10

July 15

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.

11
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.

12
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.

13

August 17

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.

14
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.

15
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.

16
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.

17

October 18

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.

17

October 18

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.

18

October 19

The Islamabad Police arrested an activist of the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (also known as Lashkar-e-Toiba) from the Pir Wadhai area.

19

October 20

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.

20

October 22

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.

21

October 22

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.

22

October 23

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.

23

October 27

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.

24

October 27

Police arrested six suspects from the Jinnah Super Market after they failed to identify themselves.

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.

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.

27

December 2

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.

28

December 6

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.

29

December 25

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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